Mother's Mansion
by Eric Wayne M
Summary: About a year after the events in the second dimension, Perry takes a much needed vacation in California. However, he soon finds himself investigating an illegal business and he tries to help a new friend get out from under its crushing influence. Rated M for language, detailed violence, and some suggestive material.
1. Vacation

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

Exhausted. That's what I've been for the past six years. Almost nothing but that. I suppose it's to be expected though. That's what happens when all you do is work. And my job is particularly exhausting. Then again, I do enjoy it from time to time, even if it is incredibly monotonous.

I don't think I've ever looked more forward to something in my life. Okay, that's not true, but this is easily in my top fives. I think my favorite thing that's ever happened to me was getting to spend an entire day with Phineas and Ferb. I almost never get to do that.

But now I'm finally on vacation! I haven't had a proper one ever. The closest thing I've ever had to one was a short trip to Africa, but that had been interrupted before it started, and I only got to take a few days of it after literally begging for it. It's different this time though!

This time it's been scheduled and planned out and there is nothing Major Monogram could do to stop me! I had gone above him for once, taking my request to the upper echelons of the O.W.C.A.. I got my request approved and now I have an entire month to myself. No O.W.C.A., no Doofenshmirtz, no Candace yelling at me for no reason. Sure, I'm gonna miss Phineas and Ferb, but I can last a month without seeing them, surely. And if I can't stand it, I'll just go home and spend the rest of my vacation with them.

I had gotten to California late yesterday. It had been incredibly stressful trying to get things packed with Phineas and Ferb constantly running around. If they'd caught me… I don't want to think about it. More than once, I could've sworn Phineas _had_ caught me, but each time I realized that he hadn't. It was quite terrifying, actually.

Major Monogram had insisted that I wear clothing while I'm on vacation. Why, though, I'm not totally sure. He probably doesn't want me to accidentally blow my cover… while nowhere near the O.W.C.A.. I think he's just paranoid.

But even though he couldn't interrupt my vacation or send me on mission, he could order me to do this. So I'm wearing clothes. Ugh.

The plane had landed around five in the evening. Being as it was an O.W.C.A. jet, I didn't have to deal with any airport security or such. I was immediately shown to a cab and after that I was permitted to do whatever I wanted.

I didn't want to do anything yesterday. I was exhausted from all the running around while trying to get packed and from the plane ride. So I'd gone to my hotel, went up to my reserved room, and promptly fell asleep. Looking about the room now, I realize that I hadn't even bothered to undress or unpack. I'm glad I'm alone. That would've been embarrassing.

I force myself to get out of bed and look at the clock. It's barely five in the morning. So even though I'd fallen asleep around six, I'd still slept for almost eleven hours? Geez, the jet lag is really hitting me hard.

I unpack and put my clothes in one of the drawers. I also strip the clothes I'm wearing off of me. I then decide to go ahead and groom myself in the restroom. I'd brought multiple products with me. I don't normally get to groom myself, as I have to maintain my cover as a mindless animal for my owners. But I can now, since I'll have tons of time to myself and by the time I get back to them, my fur will have grown back and all of the product will be off of me.

I cut my hair down a certain way that leaves my neck easily visible, instead of being hidden by a mess of fur. Even if none of this is going to be seen by anyone because of my clothing, it doesn't matter. It makes me feel better.

I take a shower to get the excess cut fur off of myself and clean myself with a blueberry scented shampoo. After a few minutes of carefully scrubbing myself down, I get out and meticulously dry off.

Remembering what I'm doing tonight, I take out some temp black hair dye. I grab a tuft of fur on the top of my head and highlight my fur with it. I look at myself in the mirror and smile, satisfied. I'd never done something even somewhat similar to this. Sure, the dye could be easily washed out, but that isn't the point. It makes me feel like I'm finally breaking away from my routine. I'm doing something I've never done before. It's gonna be fun.

I walk out of the restroom and look at the clock. It's almost six o'clock. The breakfast buffet will be open in a few minutes. I almost walk out, but quickly realize that I'm not dressed. I throw a plain white shirt over my head and somehow manage to fit some pants onto myself. The jeans had had to be specially made to fit on my legs.

I almost walk out of the room again, but then realize that I don't have my room key. I run over to the desk and put it in my pants pocket. For good measure, I grab my wallet, too, just in case. Now. Now I'm ready for breakfast. I walk out of the room, close it behind myself and rush over to the elevator.

About a minute later, I walk into the main room and go over to the buffet. It's just being set out, and the smell of the freshly cooked bacon is just calling my name. I haven't had something like this in a long time, since the Flynn-Fletchers rarely give me human food. Sure, I could technically get it from the O.W.C.A. cafeteria, but where's the fun in that? If I wait for opportunities like this, then it makes them all the more special.

As I approach the buffet, I realize that I did in fact forget something: my notepad and pen. Without them, I won't be able to communicate what I want. And seeing as I'm too small to reach the food by myself, that'll pose a problem.

At the same time though, I'm starving. I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, and I don't want to wait another minute. Going back to my room to retrieve them would just irk me.

I walk up to the lady setting out the food and chatter at her to get attention. She looks around for a second, then shrugs and goes back to work. I chatter again, and this time she looks down and sees me. Her eyes widen in shock. I don't blame her, considering I'm an anthropomorphic platypus.

I quickly sign at her that I want some help getting food, and this only further shocks her. My guess is she doesn't know sign language, seeing as the first thing I had signed was that yes, I am a platypus, and yes, I am walking on my hind legs.

I gaze up at her expectantly, hoping beyond hope that she doesn't faint. The last thing I need is a scene.

I don't bother signing at her anymore. I instead just open my mouth, point into it, then point at the counter. Surely that would be easy to understand.

She looks at the counter, then back down at me, blinking several times.

"Do you… want food…?" she asks me hesitantly, her voice trembling. She's clearly terrified.

I nod my head expectantly and pull out my room's cardkey to prove that I'm a guest. I rub my stomach to try and emphasize the fact that I'm starving. I even give a small sigh to stress it.

She picks up a plate, and I quickly begin pointing at the different foods that I want. After she's gotten me everything I want, she hands me the plate along with a small cup of cranberry juice. I give a small bow to show my thanks then walk away to a table.

I quickly begin to scarf down my food. After a few minutes, I quickly remember why I rarely eat human food: it doesn't tend to agree with my stomachless intestines. Whatever, I'll take something for it in a few; right now, I want to properly gorge myself.

I finish my food then sip at my juice. Delicious. I quickly finish it, leave a tip, then rush back up to my room. I find my stomach medicine and swallow a pill with a bottle of water. I glance at the clock to see that it isn't even eight yet. Good, that gives me more than twelve hours before my evening plans to look around the city.

I put on a nicer shirt and a baseball cap before I leave the hotel. I would love to check out the main tourist attractions in Los Angeles, but most of them don't allow animals in. So instead of going to the human attractions, I instead decide to head straight for the underground animal half of the city.

It isn't actually underground, it's just off the radar, unknown to most humans, as it should be. It's pretty convenient, since the idea of animals with human like intelligence freaks most humans out, as was the case in the hotel earlier.

I don't know how long I spent walking around just looking at stuff and taking pictures. I would've been shopping and looking for souvenirs, but I'm gonna do that tomorrow. Today, I'm exploring.

I walk up to a small water fountain with a statue of a dog at the top of it and snap a photo. After getting in another angle, I take another. I don't know what about it I like so much, I just do. Maybe I can show it to Pinky when I get back.

Thinking that gives me a small feeling of sadness. He had been supposed to come with me. But at the last minute, he found himself going on a trip with his host family. I was happy for him, sure, but I still wish I hadn't come alone. It's fine, all things considered. He'll probably be able to make it to the second half of the trip.

The problem is that we had gotten our tickets for everything in advance. Our hotels and all of the other events were already scheduled for both of us.

I sigh and walk away from the fountain. Maybe I could try and find someone to go to some of the events with me. Who knows, maybe it'll help me make a connection outside of the O.W.C.A.. The last time that had happened, it had lasted less than a day. And even then, all I'd done throughout that day was try to protect Phineas and Ferb, even if they weren't completely aware of everything I'd been doing.

After a while, I look at my watch. It's time for lunch. I head off to the food court section of the small section of the city. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able find something to eat for myself, being as I _am_ a platypus. Maybe I could find a place with hedgehog food, which would be a close second.

As I head off to the food court, I see an advertisement for what I'm going to tonight. I stop and smile at it, excited. I've never been to one before, and quite frankly, I'm stoked. I've been looking forward to this for months at this point.

"Do you like them, too?" a voice comes from behind me.

I yelp and turn to it. Sure enough, my ear slits had not deceived me. The voice I'd heard was indeed a platypus chatter. A smaller platypus is standing behind me looking up at the poster as well, a certain look in her eye.

"Yeah, love 'em, actually," I answer. I turn back to the poster.

She sighs. "Yeah. I've listened to them my whole life. I've never been able to see them live, though. Are you going?"

 _Perfect!_ I think. _I might not have to go alone! Sorry, Pinks._

"Actually, yeah. I was originally going to go with a friend of mine tonight," I say. "We bought our tickets in advance, but he had somewhere else to be. Wanna come with?"

She looks startled by the sudden offer. I don't blame her. We don't even know each other's names and I'm asking her if she wanted to spend the evening with me.

"I… I don't know…" she mutters, looking back up at the poster.

I shrug. "It's not a problem. Like I said, he isn't going to be able to make it anyways. Besides, it doesn't start 'til nine. That gives us plenty of time to get to know each other."

"I… I don't know if I can…"

My heart starts to sink a little. I should've known it wouldn't be too easy. I shrug again and try to hide my disappointment. I _really_ don't want to go alone. Not with an extra ticket on me. "My name's Perry, by the way," I say, reaching my paw out.

"I'm Diana," she says, taking my paw in hers.

I smile at her. "I really would like it if you could go. I don't want to show up with an extra ticket and look like a loser." I chuckle a little at that.

She furrows her brow at me. "You mean… you weren't asking me out on a date?"

I raise my eyebrows at her. I hadn't thought of it that way. I just don't wanted to go alone. I'd planned this trip with someone. It wouldn't be as much fun alone. "I mean, I hadn't thought of it like that…"

She smirks and shakes her head. "I'll consider it…." I then distinctly hear her intestines growling.

"You hungry? I was about to go and get lunch, but I'm not sure what the restaurants here have. Any suggestions?"

She seems to perk up at that suggestion. "Yes, I am! But…" she stops suddenly, a sour look crossing her face. I furrow my brow at her, silently asking what's wrong. "I don't have any money…"

I shrug my shoulders again. "That's fine. I've got enough money for two people. Like I said, I'd been planning to go with someone else. Come on, lead the way!"


	2. Suspicions

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Diana**

I'm still not entirely sure about Perry. Yes, he seems good natured enough. But I can tell he's hiding something. I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely something that's very important to him.

But he's just so excitable. I don't know why. He seems so excited to look at each and every thing. He'd read through our lunch menu like it's the most exciting book in existence. He's currently gorging himself on delicacy platypus food. _Live_ grubs, not easy to get in the States. Finally, I decide to ask him something.

"You're not from L.A., are you?"

"Hmm?" he asks, swallowing another mouthful. "No, no I'm from Danville. It's on the eastern coast… at least, I think it is. I swear that sometimes it feels like it's here in the west. Then there are times where it feels like it's in the midwest."

"Okay…?" I say, slightly confused. "So, what brings you here?"

"I'm on vacation!" he answers instantly. "Never really been on one before. My best friend, Pinky, was supposed to come with me, but he got dragged off with his family. So now it's just me." He sighs at this. "I kinda wish he was here. We've been close for years, ya know?"

"Yeah…" I laugh, a little nervous. "So… what all are you gonna do?"

"Oh, I've had this planned for months! Though, now that I think about it, most of it was a two-person thing…" He furrows his brow, then takes a drink of water. He sighs contently. "Looks like I'm gonna have to come up with some other plans. Well you know what I'm doing today.

"Tomorrow I'm gonna go souvenir shopping and then I'm headed to San Francisco for a few days. Gonna spend time on the beach! After that I'm gonna come back here to L.A. and… wait, no, that really does require two…" He adopts a sour expression. "Man, I really wish Pinks was here."

"Well…" I start, and I don't bother stopping myself, "what if I did some of those things with you? You wouldn't have to change your plans… if that's alright with you, I mean?"

I can tell he doesn't know how to react to my offer. It had started from the moment he'd asked me to go with him. I had thought that he was asking me out, but he had seemed genuinely surprised that I had thought that was the reason. He'd legitimately just not wanted to be alone. I think it's kinda cute.

At the same time, though, I still can't help but feel slightly uneasy around him. Yes, he's acting cheerful, but there's something hiding under his relaxed surface.

And I really want to know what it is. Something about it makes me feel like he knows about me already. I'm not sure what exactly it is about him. Maybe it's the way he holds himself. Even though he's acting childish, I can tell that he's on guard. Perhaps he isn't even aware of it, but he's constantly scanning the room as if he's looking for something.

And now I've asked _him_ out. I'm now wishing I'd held back. If this guy is who I think he is, then if he doesn't already know what I do, then he soon will. And once that happens… he'll try to get as far away from me as possible. I don't want that to happen.

"Hmm…" he muses, leaning his head on his paw. I quickly realize that he's examining me, looking me up and down. I have no idea what it is he's searching for. At least, not until he speaks up again. "I mean, if you want to. We were gonna go to a private airport and skydive. Have you ever done that before?"

I feel the blood drain from face as he asks this. "N-no, I haven't. I've never been in a plane before."

He gives me a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. I have plenty of experience. I've just, you know, never actually jumped out of one before. I have the training for it, though!"

Okay, he's definitely not normal. There are next to no animals with training like that. None except…!

I don't even want to think it. If that's true, then he is surely on to what's going on. And as much as I absolutely hate, despise even, what I do, I don't have a choice. I can't let him take it from me.

"I'm suddenly not so sure…"

"Hey, you're the one who suggested coming with me," Perry points out. "If you're not up for it, that's fine. I can either find something else to do or we can do something else. It's kinda up to you." He finishes with a shrug.

Is he serious? Does he actually not suspect anything, or is he just that good at hiding it?

"So…" he continues, "about tonight. Are we gonna go?"

I smile, pushing my concerns to the back of my mind. "Yeah… yeah, I'd love to go."

He's visibly relieved at this. I can tell he's not used to being alone, or at the very least, he really hates it. "Good, thank you. I'm really not used to this kind of thing."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "What kind of thing?"

"Concerts, vacationing, being alone…" he trails off at that last one, and I see something flash through his eyes. I can tell he's remembering something: something either depressing or tragic, I'm not sure which. He shakes his head. "So thank you."

"It's not that big of a deal. I need the break from… my work."

He leans forward a bit. Dang, mentioning that was a mistake. I've obviously piqued his interest. "What do you do?"

"I…" I don't know how to respond. Thoughts are falling through my head faster than I can process. "I'd rather not talk about it… So, you're on vacation. What's your job?"

He leans back in his seat, and I see something dangerous flicker across his face. I'm not sure what it is.

"My job…" he mutters, before looking down at his food. "I don't ever really talk about it. The only animals I ever really spend any time around have the same job as me, so there's never a need to talk about it. I'm not so sure I should talk about it. I doubt my boss would be happy if I do."

So I'm right. He _does_ work for them. But why would he so openly admit to that? If he suspects me, why on earth would he tell me that?

It's now that I realize I'm being paranoid. After all, I was the one who started talking to him, not the other way around.

"So… I'm thinking we get you ready for tonight," Perry says suddenly.

I blink at him. "I'm sorry?"

He takes off his cap, revealing a tuft of black dyed fur. "It's a rock concert, right? We need to look the part. I was planning on putting more temp dye under my eyes right before the concert and getting dressed for the part. Let's get you something, too!"

I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I don't know how to respond. "I don't…"

"Oh, if it's the dye you're worried about, don't worry. It washes out easy. Just running water through it gets it off."

"It's not that… I just… I've never owned clothes before."

For a split second, Perry looks confused before he shrugs. "That's fine, I'm sure we'll find something. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't normally wear clothes, either, but I figured I might as well. I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone, after all."

I really don't know what to make of Perry. He's just so… friendly. And I want to know why. So why not be as forward as possible?

"Why are you being so friendly to me? I mean, we only just met!"

He blinks at me. "Something tells me you need a friend. You have this air of…" he struggles trying to find the words, "depression about you. I don't know what it is, but I figured I could try to help, if you want."

I blink slowly at him. Was it that obvious? I mean, I know what he is, even if he doesn't know what I know. But is it really that obvious that I'm trying to hide something?

"You know… why not? It could be fun." I give him a small smile to try and hide the sadness that was trying to creep into my voice. And anyways, I might as well at least _try_ to enjoy myself. I don't get to do that, well, ever.

He beams at me. "Great! Come on, let's finish up here and go shopping!"


	3. Observant

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Diana**

He took us back to his hotel room an hour ago. We'd been clothes shopping for a good six hours before heading there. True to his word, he puts more dye in his fur, just under his eyes to make it look like he's wearing makeup.

But now he pushes me into the restroom with my newly bought clothes. I close the door behind myself and pull the shirt over my head. It feels so weird, having another fabric over my fur. Weird, but I think I like it, a little at least.

I go ahead and pull on the black skirt that Perry bought for me. I really don't know why he's being so kind to me. He says that he's just being friendly, but for some reason I seriously feel like he's trying to be more than that, which is something I'm, unfortunately, overly used to. But the way he's going about it… something is just off.

I look around for the hair dye he had been talking about. I find it pretty quickly and look over the instructions. Sure enough, water would wash it out easily. I take a tuft of fur on my hair and rub the dye into it.

I walk out of the restroom and look at him. He's standing in front of a mirror looking up and down himself. He's dressed in the clothes that he'd bought for himself: black leather pants and a simple white t-shirt. He notices me as I walk out and raises his arms.

"What do ya think?" he asks me.

"You look ready to rock," I giggle at him.

"Good!" he nods, then looks me up and down. "You look great, too. Tonight's gonna be awesome!"

I sheepishly smile at him. He doesn't seem to notice and instead pulls out a cellphone. He begins typing at it furiously, and I slowly walk over to him.

"Whatcha doin'?" I ask over his shoulder.

He turns and looks at me, shocked for a second. I blink back at him, confused. He shakes his head.

"Sorry… it's just… a friend of a friend of mine says that all the time." He shakes his head again. "I'm texting Pinky. He forgot about timezones and asked me how the concert was going."

"Oh," I giggle again. "What's Pinky like? You haven't really described him outside of his name."

"He's a chihuahua. Really good natured. A bit of a romantic. He keeps trying to get himself a girlfriend. I think he's a lost cause. But he's always there when I need him to be. He's a great friend."

"And what about you? Are you a hopeless romantic?"

I can tell he's off put by my question. "Um, I mean, I've never really considered it. I've always been focused on my job and family."

I try not to show my slight excitement at his answer. I'm sure I probably failed.

"So how far is the concert hall from here?" I ask.

"I'd guess about fifteen minutes. The concert starts in about two hours, so we've got plenty of time."

"Good. Let's go eat something. I'm starving." I grab his arm and yank him away from the mirror.

"Alright, alright! Just let me grab the tickets!"

I see him open up a drawer. I peer inside as he pulls out two slips of paper. I also see some other things, but I don't get a good look before he closes it. He pulls out his wallet and sticks the tickets into it.

He heads over to the door and pushes it open. He turns to me, waiting. I walk past him.

* * *

I can honestly say that I've never met someone like Perry. He's incredibly friendly and is constantly talking about things that his owners have done. At first I don't believe a word he says. After all, who would believe that two eleven year olds could build a roller coaster or a ferris wheel or stadiums or travel through space more than once?

No one, that's who. At least, not until he shows me photographic evidence. I gawk at the images he's showing; he's clearly very proud of his owners.

I smile as he gets into another one of his stories. He's very excitable when talking about his past adventures. He's currently talking about how his owners had gone to Africa and had been forced to leave him behind. Somehow, he refuses to tell me how, he managed to get to Africa and find them. It's adorable. He traveled to the other side of the world for the people he loves.

That makes me wonder. At first I had been off put by him. But now I find myself staring at him, and not from confusion anymore. He said and did everything with an intention. Nothing is confused about him. He knows what he was doing at all times.

Which makes me wonder if perhaps he does suspect me of something. But then, what if he can help?

I shake my head of that thought. No one can help me. Let alone someone like him.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as I notice Perry looking at me, concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asks me. "You've been staring off into space for a while."

I give him a small smile. "I'm fine," I lie. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Well, don't," he says, more sternly than he probably meant to. "Tonight's gonna be fun! I know you say you've never been to a concert before, but just try to relax."

"Yeah, I know… it's just. I've never been out for this long before. The person who keeps me might start to look for me…"

"'The person who keeps' you?" he asks, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"No! I, uh, I mean, my owner…" I try to recover quickly.

He cocks an eyebrow at me. "You don't have an owner."

Holy hell, how did he…?

"What?" I ask hesitantly.

"Your fur isn't ruffled around your neck like mine usually is. You aren't hiding a collar and I can tell that you don't have a chip in you."

I'm left shell shocked. How on earth was he this observant? It's almost unnatural. It must be his advanced training.

Perry sighs quietly at me. He doesn't press me further on it, but he's clearly on alert, and if I'm not careful, he'll quickly figure out what's going on. I can't let that happen.

"So, we doing anything after the concert tonight?" I ask, wanting to change the topic.

He eyes me for a few more seconds. "Yes, I was thinking we could go and get a late night snack and then go home. Well, I mean, I'd be going to my hotel."

"You don't mind if I stay with you, do you?"

He leans back in his chair, his brow raising. "I, um…"

My eyes widen as I realize what I said. "No! No, that's not what I meant! Your room has two beds, and I just don't want to go home. It's not really much of a home."

He visibly relaxes, but continues eyeing me. "Okay. Sure thing. But… did something happen there?"

I make a face, disgusted. "Things happen there all the time. It makes me sick whenever I think about it. I just… I really want to spend time away from there. And you're really friendly. Being with you is much better than being there."

He smiles at me. "I'm glad I'm able to help." He looks down at his watch (where had he been hiding that?). "Oh, goodness, we've been here for more than half an hour!"

My eyes widen. "We need to hurry then! Come on, let's go!"

We quickly get up and Perry pays for our meal before we rush out of the restaurant.


	4. Threatened Dignity

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

There's something very off about Diana. She's lying to me, I know that. She's hiding something that's clearly important to her. And I have a sneaking suspicion that she's got a crush on me. The sudden want to spend the night with me had been a major tipoff, just as the "whatcha doin'" had been.

But I don't have time for attachments like romance. I have enough weaknesses as it is. Phineas and Ferb were bad enough for my record, especially ever since the other dimension incident. Not that that really matters, I would never let anyone hurt my boys.

But Diana… she's hiding something and I want to know what it is. If she does in fact have a crush on me, then she'll be trying to spend even more time with me. If I don't know what it is she's hiding, then it could put us both in danger. I don't want to bother with that kind of crap on my vacation.

I also suspect that she knows that I'm an O.W.C.A. agent. She watches me intently when I'm talking or looking around. I can tell she knows that I'm doing more than just being observant. And that's fine and all. It's not like I'm trying to hide it, I was being pretty obvious about it. My observations of her had told me a lot. If she wants to tell me about them, that's up to her.

But right now, I want to focus on the next few hours. We're almost to the concert hall, and I have to say, I'm stoked. I've never been to a Love Händel concert before, and their newest album is pretty good, in my opinion at least.

And I don't have to be there alone! That's what's most exciting about this. After the other day and learning that Pinky wouldn't be able to come, I'd been having seconds thoughts about going. But now I wouldn't have to spend my time alone.

Then again, I keep telling myself, she's clearly hiding something. What is it that she's hiding? How much does she know? How much are you willing to learn?

We finally arrive at the stadium after about ten minutes of walking. Diana has thoroughly attached herself to my side. I don't protest, but I seriously hope she isn't trying something. One, I barely know her and we were only just starting to become friends. Two, I know she's hiding something from me, and I from her. And three, I don't need more distractions, as I've already noted.

I hand my tickets to the man standing at one of the entrances to the stadium. I can tell he's more than a little surprised that two animals with hair dye are handing him tickets, but this time, I'm prepared.

I pull out my phone and play an audio file, recorded by Carl Karl.

"Yes, yes we are animals. We're perfectly legal, if that's what you're concerned about. We're trained like humans, so you don't have to worry about any kind of mess."

The man blinks at us before shaking his head. "Well then," he says, tearing the tickets and handing us back the stubs, "enjoy the concert, I guess."

I catch him shaking his head in disbelief as we walk in. I smirk at the strange idea of two random animals native to the Outback walking around L.A. ordering food, staying at hotels and going to concerts. Seems rather unbelievable.

Which is why it's a good thing this concert has an animals only section, specifically for intelligent animals such as Diana and myself.

"Where'd you get that voice?" Diana asks me.

I turn to her. "A friend of mine recorded it. I have a few others that we can use as well."

"So where are we going to be sitting? I've never been to something like this before."

"There's a section of the stadium that was recently added on specifically for intelligent animals like us. I memorized this place's floor plan, so stick with me and we'll find it in no time!" I begin to lead us to the concessions. "But first, let's get something to eat!"

"We literally just ate twenty minutes ago," she laughs at me.

"I know, I'm starving, too," I smirk. She rolls her eyes at me. "Have you ever had pizza? And what kind of meats do you eat?"

She blinks at me. "Um, no, I've never had pizza. And, well, I don't eat platypus, if that helps any."

I smile at her. "I don't think anyone really eats platypus, since we're protected under law from stuff like that. And you're in for a treat! Pizza's this weird combination of foods, like cheese, bread, tomato, and tons of possible toppings! It's delicious!"

"It sounds, um, different," she says hesitantly.

"Okay, then let's just get regular cheese pizza to introduce you to it."

I drag us up to one of the concession stands and pull out my phone again. I knock on the edge of the stand to get someone's attention. The person manning it looks down at us with a small look of shock. I play another audio file.

"Hello," came Carl's nasally voice again, "I'd like two slices of cheese pizza, please."

The man stares at us for a few moments, unsure of what to do. In response to his inactivity, I pull out my wallet and wave a wad of money at him.

That certainly works. Within a minute he has his money and we have ourselves two freshly cooked slices of pizza. After making certain that we both have plates and napkins, we sit down at a table.

Diana stares down at her slice. "I have no idea how to eat this."

I stifle a laugh. "You pick it up by the crust and just take a bite." I pick my slice up and take a large bite out of the end. Cheese ends up getting stuck up under my bill, and I start trying to slurp it in, but it's no use.

Diana starts to giggle at me trying to get the strand of cheese off of myself. She then grabs her own slice and takes a careful bite out of it. After a few seconds of chewing on it, she relaxes and swallows.

"Oh my God, this _is_ good," she whispers.

"Told ya!" I say, finally getting the strand off. I take another bite and swallow. "I don't eat it very often, since it's pretty fattening, but occasionally indulging oneself shouldn't be a problem!"

"It's delicious! Thank you," she smiles.

For a split second, I feel my face heating up before I get myself under control. "You're welcome. Thanks for coming."

"No, thank you for taking me. I never imagined I'd get to do something like this."

I smile at her and take another bite to keep myself from saying something stupid. I don't need to develop anything more than a friendship.

But if that's all I want, then why do I keep telling myself that?

I sigh to myself. _Because you don't know anything about her, that's why. Also, your job, remember? Attachments are hindrances._

I stuff the rest of the pizza in my mouth and quickly swallow it. It's now that I realize that Diana's going to need that medicine later, otherwise her intestines will be disagreeing with her later.

After she's finished her slice, we head towards the extension. There, we won't get anymore weird looks from people. Really, we probably should've come in through the extension's entrance. Then again, I'd wanted pizza.

I quickly usher us into the extension. We walk past a yellow labrador almost instantly. We make our way over to the edge of the extension, which is a glass wall looking down at the stadium. The wall doesn't stretch up all the way to the ceiling, so as not to block out all the sound. There are about twenty other animals in there, though, Diana and I are the most exotic.

We sit down and look down at the stadium. Despite us being a little under an hour early, the stadium is already getting full.

"Have you heard the songs in this album yet?" I ask, turning to Diana.

She shakes her head. "Not really. I've heard one or two of them, but I don't really know them."

"My favorite song from it is _Robot Riot_. Though, I suppose I'm a little biased, since I was one of the first who heard it."

"I'm so excited!" Diana almost squealed. "You don't know how much this means to me! I've never done something like this!"

I smile at her again. She's said that multiple times now, but I don't mind. Her excitement was understandable. Hell, I'm doing everything I can not to jump up and down and yell out!

"Well, well, well," a voice comes from behind us. I quickly turn to see a bulldog standing a short ways away from us. "If it isn't the beautiful Diana."

Diana's eyes widen and she shoots out of her chair. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here for the concert, but seeing you makes this so much better. Maybe you and I could go out back and, you know…" he smirks at her.

I slowly get out of my chair, sensing that something is very wrong. "Who's this, Diana?"

"Oh, are you a client or something?" the bulldog asks me. "Lucky you~."

"No!" Diana almost screams. "Please, just go away…"

"Oh, come on, babe, haven't you missed your favorite customer?" he grins and begins walking over to us. Diana rushes behind me, as if trying to hide.

My eyes slide from her to the bulldog. "Look," I start, "I don't know what's going on, but she clearly doesn't want to talk to you. Why don't you just keep a distance so she's not so uncomfortable."

"What, you her boyfriend or something? 'Cause if so, there's something you need to know," he sneers as he says this.

I don't flinch. "Whether I was or not doesn't really matter; she's hiding from you. And I'm partial to the person hiding from the person who's advancing."

"Aw, is poor little Diana hiding behind the little man? You know that isn't going to work, Di. If I wanted, I could go straight through him."

I do _not_ want a fight on my hands. I could seriously hurt this guy. He's very clearly not trained in hand-to-hand combat like me, and if I end up fighting him, he could get killed. That's not exactly what I need.

"Look, we all just need to cool down," I say. "Why don't we all just walk away?"

"Don't, Perry," I hear Diana whisper behind me. "It'll make things worse…"

I notice the other animals are crowding around us. I have no idea if they're friends of this guy or just bystanders.

"Oh, do you think you're some bigshot, huh, little man?"

"No," I say, trying choosing my words carefully. "I just think that none of us want to miss the concert."

"Oh, trust me, I'm _much_ more interested in her than some songs. She's much more exciting."

I feel Diana cringe behind me and hear her whimper slightly. I relax my posture, now sensing this guy's intentions. It makes me sick.

"Come on, Diana," I mumble. "We should go and get different seats." She grips my paw as I say this and I feel her nod with my electroreceptors.

"Oh, I don't think so," the bulldog steps in front of us as I begin to lead us out. "I'd like to 'talk' to Diana, if you don't mind."

"And I'd like to avoid a fight," I say crisply.

"Oh, so you _do_ think you're some tough guy. Cocky little bastard, ain't ya?"

"Hardly. There's a distinct difference between cockiness and confidence."

At that, the bulldog's eye twitches and he throws a fist at me. In one swift movement, I push Diana away from us and grab the bulldog's paw. I twist it and shove him to the floor, holding his arm straight behind his back.

"I'm sorry, I thought we were trying to avoid a fight," I say, acid dripping in my voice.

"Agh, what the hell are you," the bulldog exclaims.

 _Excellent question_ , I think to myself. I understand his confusion. I weigh about ten pounds and I'm holding a sixty pound bulldog down with one arm.

"I'm someone who doesn't want a fight. In fact, I think that's what you want, too, isn't it?"

"You bastard! The moment I get free I'm gonna—!"

I twist his paw slightly, earning a yelp of pain from him. "Gonna what? I think you were about to say that you were gonna walk away. That _is_ what you were gonna say, isn't it?"

"Goddammit, let me go, you motherf—" I twist even harder, getting a genuine cry of pain from him. "Alright, yes, I'm sorry! Let me go, I'll walk, I'll walk!"

I twist on his arm one last time for good measure then let go, letting him completely collapse to the floor. It's as he's falling that I notice Diana running out of the room.

"Diana!" I call after her, running to catch up.


	5. Helping a Friend

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

After a few minutes of running with her barely in my line of sight, I find myself no longer in the stadium. After a little while longer, I quickly find myself in a park. I see Diana collapsed underneath a tree. As I approach, I hear muffled sobs.

"Hey," I call gently. "Are you okay?"

She lifts her tear streaked face from her paws and tries to answer me, but it comes out as another sob. I go over to her and hug her, gently rocking her back and forth.

"Hey, it's okay, he can't hurt you."

"Yes," she sobs, "yes he can. You've made things worse…"

I let her keep crying as I hold her. I don't know what exactly is going on, but I have a distinct feeling that it has to do with what she's been keeping from me. I need to get her to tell me what's going on.

I don't know how to help her right now, so I figure the best thing for me to do is to just keep holding her and let her cry. After a few minutes, her sobs are much quieter.

"Better?" I ask quietly.

She sniffs and slightly nods her head.

"Diana, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on." I never let my voice get over a whisper.

"You can't help me… no one can…"

"Diana… you know what I do." She looks at me sharply. "I know you know. Which is _why_ I can help you."

"It's because of what you are that you can't… you'll be forced to arrest me and every one of the others if you knew."

"Are you a vandal?"

"No…"

"Are you a thief?"

"No."

"Are you a murderer?"

"Perry, no!" she raises her voice.

"Then why can't you tell me? Diana, trust me. I can help you."

"You don't understand…"

I hug her closer. "Then help me understand."

She shakes her head. She's adamant, I'll give her that. She's not going to tell me what's going on, I can tell. It doesn't matter how much I press her on it.

"Okay… want to go back to the concert?" I ask. She shakes her head again. "Okay, then let's go to sleep. The hotel isn't far from here. Come on."

I gently help her get up onto her hind legs, holding her shoulder as we walk. After a few minutes, she finally speaks up again.

"Thank you, Perry…"

"You're welcome," I smile.

As we enter the hotel, we're shot many looks from different people. I feel Diana tense up under the curious glares, so I rub her shoulder some to try and distract her.

Within minutes, we're in my hotel room. I let her enter the restroom to clean herself. I look at my phone to see another text from Pinky.

 _how is concert_

I sigh. How am I going to explain this to him? I know Pinky, and if I tell him that I brought someone to my hotel room, a female someone at that, I know exactly where his mind is going to go. I don't need gossip starting up.

I look at the clock. The concert starts in ten minutes from now. I shake my head and chuckle slightly. I quickly send a response.

 _still not started :p_

He responds to me quickly.

 _tell me how it is wish I was there_

I smile and send another message, ending the conversation.

 _turning off phone will tell tomorrow_

I put the phone on its charger and sit down at the desk. I place my face in my paws.

 _What am I going to do now?_ I think. _She isn't going to tell me what's going on, so how am I going to figure this out?_

This isn't fair. I'm on vacation, for Pete's sake, I shouldn't be thinking like I do when I'm working. Yet that's exactly what I'm doing, and I don't have any intention of stopping. I need to figure out what's going on. That bulldog had been about to do something horrible to Diana, and I can't let that stand. It's my duty to figure it out.

I look over at the drawer I'd stored the tickets in. I had seen Diana trying to look into it, which is why I'd closed it so quickly. A lot of my equipment is in there. Bringing it had just been a precaution, but now I'm grateful for my paranoia.

I open up the drawer and pull out a tracker. I know Diana will probably resent me for this, but if she refuses to tell me what's going on, then I won't have a choice. I quickly hide it in my fur and close the drawer. I then stick a lock on it to prevent her from going through it.

She now has confirmation that I'm an O.W.C.A. agent, and I don't need her trying to get to my gadgets. While I doubt that she'd try to, I still can't take the risk.

I pull off my clothing and lay down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I sigh, trying to focus on what I'm going to do tomorrow. If things go just fine, with no interuptions, I'd be souvenir shopping. After that, I'm supposed to be leaving the city to go to the beach for a week.

But I'm not going to go to the beach, I've already decided on that. A week is a long time, and I could use it to my advantage. Investigating has always been one of my strong suits, and if I can figure out what Diana does, then I can start to piece together what I need to do.

She claims that I'd be forced to arrest her if I found out. I don't know if that's true or not, but I'd rather not. I've really taken a liking to her over the past several hours. Even if I don't know her too well, I consider her a friend, and I'd rather not hurt her if I can help it.

I hear the shower turn off and I lean up against the head of the bed. I grab the television remote and turn it on. I begin flipping through random channels, trying to find something interesting. I kinda wish I was at the concert right now, but it wouldn't be any fun by myself. Plus, that bulldog is probably still there, and I really don't want a round two.

Finally, I stop on a soap opera. One of my favorites at that. _Perfect_ , I think, smiling.

About a minute later, Diana comes out of the bathroom. I cast her a quick glance before turning back to the television. She hops up next to me.

"Whatcha watchin'?"

I cast her another glance. Not only did she hop into the bed with me, but now she's flirting again. Fantastic, just what I don't need.

"It's called _I Hate You, I Love You_. The plot up to this point in the story is pretty complicated, so I won't explain everything. But the basic rundown is that these two people can't decide whether or not they love each other or hate each other. It's a back and forth kind of thing."

"And… that's a good thing?" She gives me a questioning look.

I shrug. "The story itself is pretty good, despite the weird concept. I like it."

She smiles and leans on me. I don't react to it.

"You were right about the hair dye. It just washed right out."

I look away at that.

"Sorry about the concert…" she says quietly. "I know how badly you wanted to go."

"That isn't the problem. Diana, you need to tell me what's going on. I can help you."

"You're still going on about that? Why can't you just let it go?"

"Because you can't let it go. It's bothering me."

"Why do you care so much?"

I look away again. How do I explain that I just want to help out a friend? I know how she feels about me, at least, I'm pretty sure. And if I shoot her down right now, it could push her away.

"Oh…" she breathes, smiling. "I see." She grips onto me tighter.

Great, now she's misinterpreting what I'm thinking. I need to think of a way to keep her at bay.

"Look, Diana. I need to know what's going on. Despite my work, I don't do good with secrets. Either tell me, or just…"

She gives me a slightly hurt expression. "Just… what?"

I don't answer. I just turn my head and give her a cold glare. She gets the message and removes her arms from me.

"Who was that bulldog?" She doesn't answer me. She stares at the television.

I pretend to scratch at my abdomen and grab the tracking device. I grab her by the shoulders.

"Answer me, Diana!" I hiss. As I see a bit of fear in her eyes, I bury the tracker in her fur.

"I-I can't tell you," she stammers.

I look her in the eyes a little while longer before sighing. I let go.

"Let's go to sleep," I say quietly, turning off the television.

Diana gives me a sad look. "Perry, if I could tell you, I would. It's just… I can't, I just can't."

"Does it have anything to do with that bulldog was implying?"

She falls silent and slips off of the bed. It hurts me a bit to see her so sullen, but I don't need to do anything stupid. She climbs into the other bed and looks over at me.

"Good night, Perry…" she says quietly.

"Good night," I answer, reaching over and pulling on the lamp cord, cutting out the light.

A few minutes pass before I start to regulate my breathing, pretending to be asleep. A little while longer passes and I hear Diana get out of her bed. I feel weight shifting next to me. I don't open my eyes, because I already know that she's climbed back into my bed.

"I wish I could tell you…" she whispers. "But you'd hate me…" I feel her hand gently brushing my face. "Oh, how I wish I could tell you everything…"

It's now that I realize that whatever it is she's doing, she hates it. Whatever it is, I know that I can't let her down. I'm going to help her get out of it.


	6. Being Forward

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I open my eyes, instantly awake. I give a quick glance at the clock to see that it's a little past five in the morning. Using my electroreceptors, I can tell that Diana is still next to me, fast asleep. Great, she couldn't have gone back to her own bed? At first she'd acted like she wanted to hide her feelings, but now she's wearing them on her sleeve. What's up with that?

I slowly get out of the bed, making certain I don't wake her. I make my way into the restroom and quickly shower to wash out my hair dye. After I'd taken care of everything I needed to, I exit and go over to my desk, opening up my laptop. I open my instant messaging program.

As expected, a familiar message was on the screen, from my "ally," as he calls himself. I don't know who this guy is, but his constant messages over the past few months are getting annoying.

 _How's your vacation so far?_

I don't respond to it. I don't have time to try and figure out who this guy is today. Right now, I need to focus on other things.

I quickly look up reviews of the concert from last night. Critics didn't like most of the songs, but the reviews are generally positive. I study them so that if Pinky asks for details, I can give them to him.

I then try to look up details involving animals and crimes in Los Angeles. I get nothing aside from a few instances of animal abuse, which I highly doubt is what is going on.

I turn back and look at Diana peacefully sleeping. This is the most relaxed I've seen her. While awake, she's constantly looking around, almost more than me. Normally I would think that animal abuse is what's going on, but this seems worse.

I begin to sort through my emails to see if anything is going on at the agency. As to be expected, I'd gotten no mission requests, but I do see a few invitations to a dance that's coming up soon, including one from Callie the cat. I give a small smile. She's also got a small crush on me, though, I act oblivious to it because I don't return her feelings at all. I'm pretty sure she knows that.

My thoughts drift over to Diana again. I look over at her, fast asleep. Maybe I do somewhat return the feelings that she's been displaying for me. Well, there's no maybe about it. At this point, I know I do at least a little bit. But I know how to separate my emotions from my work, and right now, this is work.

I grab one of my card keys and a notepad and pen, and quietly slip out of the room. I go to the elevator and make my way down to the first floor. I hop up onto the counter and ring the bell for reception.

A few minutes later, the lady from yesterday morning walks in and smiles at me. I note that her name tag reads "Kristen." I smile back then grab out my pen and notepad. I write down what I want, rip off the piece of paper, and hand it to her.

She reads it quickly then nods. "It shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'll have to talk to my manager for confirmation, but I'm sure she'll agree."

I nod my thanks and hop off of the counter. Pretty soon, I'm back in front of my room door. I run the card over the lock and, after hearing the beep, slowly open the door.

I walk over to Diana and gently shake her. "Hey," I say quietly, "time to wake up."

She stirs slightly before looking up at me. "Hey, Perry…" She's clearly not fully awake.

"'Morning, sleepy head. The breakfast buffet will be open in a few minutes. If we go soon we can get it fresh."

"'Kay…" she murmurs, turning away from me. "Just give me a few minutes…"

I nod my head then go over to a drawer, grab out some clothes, and throw them on. I walk over to Diana and shake her again. "Come on, wake up."

"I don't feel very good…" she mutters.

I blink for a few seconds before slapping my forehead. _Idiot, you're an idiot_ , I think to myself. _You forgot to give her that medicine._

I quickly run into the bathroom and grab a pill. I exit and go over to the refrigerator and grab out a water bottle before going back to her.

"I forgot to give this to you yesterday," I say. She sleepily opens her eyes and looks at what I'm holding. "Our intestines don't normally mix too well with human foods, so to counteract that, I usually take medicine that helps me digest it. It helps."

She eyes me cautiously, not sure if she should take it or not. I shrug.

"If you're worried that it's bad for you, you don't have to." I toss the pill into my mouth and dry swallow it. "I need one for breakfast anyways."

She slowly sits up, and looks about herself. Her eyes widen when she realizes that she'd fallen asleep besides me. She opens her mouth, probably to apologize, but I raise my hand.

"It's okay; I don't mind." She closes her mouth, and even in the dim light, I can see her embarrassment.

I head into the bathroom and grab another pill. I return to her and hand the pill and water to her. She takes and swallows it with great effort.

"It'll take a few minutes for it to take effect. You'll feel better soon."

"Thank you," she says quietly. "I say that a lot, don't I?"

I give her a sideways smile before going over to the desk to put my phone and wallet in my pockets. I see her climb out of the bed and pull her new clothes on. I walk over to the door and she joins me.

"You look better like this. Without the hair dye, I mean," she says.

"Thank you," I open the door. "Come on, I'm starving."

"When aren't you?" she giggles. I know what she means. Eating's pretty much all I've done since we met. But I need to eat a bunch to keep up my daily routine. You don't get the kind of muscles I have without eating and exercising plenty.

We make our way into the front lobby and make our way over to the buffet. Kristen smiles at me again. "Same as yesterday?" she asks.

I shake my head no. She gets us both two plates with similar items on it, all of which I picked out for Diana and myself. I don't know what she likes as far as human foods are concerned, so I figure small portions of almost everything is a good idea.

We each get a glass of juice (mine being cranberry again, Diana's being orange) and make our way to a table.

I watch her eating everything on her plate slowly and carefully. She's clearly enjoying herself. I'm glad of that; she's clearly never known luxury like this before. And here I am, just giving it to her without asking for anything in return. Well, I am asking for something in return, but she refuses and refuses to tell me what she does.

"So, today I was gonna do some souvenir shopping and then ship it all home. Wanna join me?"

She looks startled. I'm guessing she'd been completely absorbed in her eating. She excitedly nods her head, her mouth still full of food. I chuckle at her.

"And since you seem to like wearing clothes more than me, we might get you a few outfits, since those are the only ones you own."

She swallows, her eyes wide. "Oh, no! Perry, I couldn't possibly—!"

"It really isn't a big deal," I shrug. "Remember, enough money for two people here. Pinky wouldn't mind at all."

 _In fact, he'd encourage it_ , I think dryly. _Because he'd think I was just doing this to spend more time with her._

And that's technically true, it is to spend more time with her, but I have an ulterior motive: learning as much as I can. Subtle movements and speech patterns might help me determine what is going on. She knows what I do, she might catch on and try to leave, but that's why I put the tracker on her. If she leads me to her "keeper," then my job would be all but done.

And once my job is done, then perhaps I can think about the other thing. Or would it still be too much of a risk? She knows about me, but would it still be too problematic? Too many distractions could indeed prove to be a problem. Then again, as had been proven in the other dimension incident, my "weaknesses" tend to be strengths. Phineas and Ferb had been immensely helpful.

I clear my mind of those thoughts. _Focus on the mission._

We're done with our breakfast soon and we go back up to the hotel room. While Diana's in the restroom, I unlock the drawer with gadgets in them and pull out a small device that looks like a cellphone. I quickly hide it on myself before closing and locking the drawer again.

It's almost seven o'clock by now. Shops would be opening soon. I pull out my phone and try to look at it before remembering I'd turned it off. I turn it back on and wait a little bit. It eventually flares to life and, sure enough, a text message comes through from Pinky.

 _srsly how was the concert_

I frown and respond.

 _it was awesome! went with someone else. wish you were here, amigo_

I put my phone up and stare at the ceiling. Great. I lied to my best friend. Then again, I need things to look normal until I come up with a real game plan. Right now, the only ideas I have are to study Diana and follow her to her home.

My phone buzzes as another text comes in. Confused, I look at my phone to see a response from Pinky. _Oh, right, timezones_ , I think to myself.

 _what kind of someone else?_

Oh, great. Now he's trying to figure that out.

 _another LH fan why?_

 _is she pretty?_

 _you dont know if it's a she_

 _well is she?_

 _ttyl pinks_

I sigh, put the phone up, and continue to stare up at the ceiling. Great, despite my efforts, there is no avoiding the gossip brigade.

Diana comes out of the restroom and lays down next to me. I give her a queer look, but don't say anything. She is being much more forward than she had been at first, and it's starting to make me uncomfortable.

I sigh. "The stores should be open by now. We should go."

She hums at me and hugs my side. Okay, she's being _much_ more forward than she had been before. I get that it's August, but it's still awkward. I guess she's not as good at suppressing her instincts as I am.

"Diana, I already told you, I'm not doing this."

"Perry," she murmurs, "you're always so kind to me… I don't know of any other way to thank you…"

"You can thank me by going shopping with me," I say, trying not to offend or upset her.

She hugs me tighter. "Are you sure?"

I nod and smile at her. "I'm sure. And don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. I like you. A lot. But this is just too… I don't know how to explain it."

"Perry…" she whispers sadly, locking her eyes with mine. "I don't know what to do… I'm trapped and you're the first person I've felt like this with and I just don't know what to do."

I look into her bright green eyes. "The way I see it, you have two options. We go shopping and enjoy each other's company or you let me help you." She opens her mouth to protest, so I continue. "And I know you aren't gonna let me do the latter. So let's just go shopping. It'll be fun."

She smiles at me. "Okay."

I breathe a sigh of relief. Somehow I managed to get out of that. I don't need to get anymore emotionally attached than I already am.

Not yet, anyways.


	7. Princess

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

We went to at least twenty shops today. I got a few souvenirs to show that I'd been in L.A.. I also grabbed some Love Händel merchandise to try and prove to Pinky that I had actually gone to the concert. We'd gone to the post office and mailed everything to O.W.C.A. headquarters.

I'd taken Diana to at least five different clothes shops. She'd gotten more and more excited with each one we visited. She was getting much more comfortable with it. By the time we were done, she had five more outfits, one from each store. She refused to get more. She probably felt bad for using my money, despite me trying to assure her that it was fine.

But now it's five in the evening, and we're at the restaurant we'd gone to for lunch yesterday. I order something completely different from what I had eaten before, but Diana doesn't change. I watch her as she greedily eats up the live grubs, clearly very happy with her meal.

"Enjoying yourself?" I ask, amused.

"Oh, I love this," she answers with a mouthful of food. She swallows with a grin on her face. "You're treating me like a queen, Perry. I don't get it, what did I do to deserve all of this?"

"You agreed to keep me from being lonely," I smile with a shrug. "And if you ask me, you look more like a princess," I add with a wink.

Her smile instantly vanishes and she stares down at her plate, her eyes full of sadness. I furrow my brow.

"What's wrong?"

"That's what my parents used to call me…" she mutters. "Princess…"

To say that I'm shocked by what she just told me wouldn't quite cut it. This is the first truly personal thing that she's told me. I decide to push further.

"What happened?" I ask, keeping my voice just above a whisper.

"They died when I was just over a year old. I don't remember much about them. Just their smiles, really. I don't even remember their voices…"

I suck in my breath and let out a somewhat shaky sigh.

"I never knew my parents…" I start slowly, earning a look of shock from Diana. "I was raised by the O.W.C.A.. Yes, I'm openly saying it, I know they wouldn't want me to, but I don't care. The only life I've known is the O.W.C.A.. The only family I've known are what the organization calls my host family. But they're more than that, ya know? They're _my_ family. I couldn't live without them."

Diana smiles at me and reaches for my paw, taking ahold of it. "I think I understand. I know we haven't known each other long, but in a way, I kinda think of you as family."

I smile and squeeze her paw, forgetting about my goals in that moment. It doesn't last long, but for now I feel like I don't have to focus on anything but Diana.

But like I said, it doesn't last long. She removes her paw, looking embarrassed.

"It's almost hard to believe that they died only two years ago…" she mutters, causing me to suddenly pay more attention.

As interested as I am in knowing how her parents died, I'm still left shocked. Diana's only three years old? She acts older. Granted, two years old is considered adult for platypuses, but that's not the point. She's been depressed since I first met her.

If her parents were taken from her at such a young age, I can understand why she's so down. But I know that there's something else there. I reach forward and grab her paw, squeezing it reassuringly. She looks up at me in surprise.

"Hey," I say quietly. "I don't know what happened, but I'm here for you, okay?"

She smiles sadly at me and puts her other paw on mine. I know that I'm playing with her emotions, but I don't care. They're my emotions, too.

"How long will you be in L.A.?" she whispers.

"I head out tomorrow morning, but I'm coming back in a week and staying for a few more weeks."

"You… you wouldn't mind if I spent it with you, would you?"

I raise my brow slightly, a grin plastered on my face. "I'd really like that," I answer. "I want to spend more time with you, too, Diana."

"Call me Princess," she says. "I like it more."

I give her a sad smile and nod.

* * *

Diana doesn't let go of my arm the whole way back to the hotel. She's still insistent on not going home. Whatever is there must be horrible.

We quickly find ourselves in the hotel room and Diana goes to take a shower. I take out the device I'd gotten from the drawer this morning and look at it. Sure enough, I was right.

Diana has a cell phone, despite not having any money. My device has paired itself to it. I realize that she must've been hiding it in her fur in a place I wasn't able to see much. Either that, or she also has surgically installed fur pockets as well.

And if that's the case…

I swallow as I realize something. She's either an O.W.C.A. agent or had been associated with it at one point. I then remember her parents and why she's so unwilling to let me help her. She doesn't trust the O.W.C.A., and possibly for a good reason.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Is what I'm doing going to push her away from me? Probably, but what else can I do? Whatever she's tangled up in, it's slowly killing her. She's depressed; or, if not that, defeated. I don't want that for her. She's too young for this, whatever it is, to be her life.

I put the device in the drawer and lock it. I then go and knock on the restroom door.

"Hey, Princess, I'll be back in a few minutes!" I call through the door.

"Okay!" she responds.

Making certain I have my wallet and card key on me, I leave the room and quickly head for the lobby. Upon getting there, I spot the manager. I approach her and chatter to get her attention. I salute when she looks down at me.

She rolls her eyes at me. "No need for formalities, Agent P. You're on vacation."

I relax my posture. Oh, did I mention before that this hotel is managed by the O.W.C.A.? Well, it is, which is why I'm able to get a room here. Pretty simple, right?

"Well, Kristen told me about your request, and while it's unorthodox, I can grant it, since you have the room reserved in a week again anyways. Of course, you'll be charged for the extra nights, if that's alright."

I wave my hand dismissively. Of course it's fine. The condos on the beach are much more expensive anyways.

"Although, I've noticed that you aren't the only one spending the night in there," she says, suddenly very serious. I shrug again. "Why didn't you tell me that you're keeping someone else in your room?"

I blink at her, then sign my answer at her. She stares at me blankly, clearly not understanding. I sigh. Does no one know sign language?

She hands me a piece of paper and a pen. I quickly write down that I'd paid for two people, myself and Agent Pinky, but he hadn't been able to make it. I'd been going to ask for a refund, but then my guest started staying, so I hadn't bothered.

She raises an eyebrow at this. "Is that a fact?" I nod, and she sighs. "I'll have to check my records, but if that's the case, then fine."

I quickly add that the next few days are going to be just me. The manager sighs at me.

"Very well, Agent P. I'll see to everything for you. Good night."

I salute her before walking off to the elevator. As I'm on the elevator, it occurs to me that Diana might want to know where I went to. I begin to search my head for an idea before I come up with a simple reason: I wanted to go outside for just a bit. Of course, this is just if she asks.

I open the door to my room and walk in. Diana's sitting on her bed, television on. I look over to see that it's a rerun of _I Hate You, I Love You_. I smile slightly, wondering if I got her hooked on it.

"I don't get what you see in this show," she says, as if reading my mind. "It's kinda boring."

"Boring?!" I exclaim. "It's hardly that! The excitement is the mood swings! Are they meant to be or do they actually hate each other and are just in denial? It's riveting! I personally believe they love each other."

She giggles at me. "If you say so."

I remove my clothing and hop up onto my bed, crossing my arms behind my head. I stare at the television and quickly find myself absorbed in the soap opera. I don't even notice when Diana climbs up next to me.

At least, I don't until I feel her arms around my chest. I look down at her in surprise.

"Sorry," she says, shyly. "You don't mind if I do this, do you? Nothing more?"

I give a small sigh and shake my head. "No, I don't mind."

Several minutes pass with neither of us moving. The room is silent aside from our breathing and the show. Despite myself, I'm lost in the moment. I'm not focusing on the show anymore. All of my attention is on Diana and her quiet, peaceful breathing.

"P-Perry…" Diana whispers. Her voice is trembling. "This is— this is strange, considering how long we've known each… but…" Her voice trails off. She has my attention. "I love you, Perry…"

My brow raises quickly and I look down at her in alarm. I hadn't expected that. Yes, I know she has feelings for me, but are they really that strong? And for that matter, is she thinking clearly? We've known each other barely more than a day, how could she possibly feel that much towards me so quickly? My mind races for a response, but I keep drawing blanks.

She looks up at me, a hopeful yet worried glint in her eyes. I sigh as I maintain eye contact. I don't know what I feel. I know I care for her; I _know_ that. If I didn't, I wouldn't be giving up my vacation time to try and help her, whether she wants it or not. But do I love her the way she's just confessed to me?

Honestly, I don't know. I don't know what romantic love feels like; I've never experienced it. I start doing thought experiments to try and figure it out. What would life without Diana be like?

 _Like it was before_.

 _Would it be, though? You've met her, and you genuinely like her. You_ want _to spend time with her. You enjoy it._

 _And? What's that matter? You're trying to figure out more about what she does._

 _You've agreed to spend_ three _more weeks with her already, despite not even really knowing her._

 _Even more time to figure out what she's hiding! Besides, she's been lying to you!_

 _You know she's lying to you about something, and you don't care! You love being around her!_

 _Maybe, but you don't love her._

 _Yes you do!_

I stop at that. Is that really my thought? Am _I_ thinking straight? Is that what I truly feel?

 _Yes, yes it is. Tell her._

Screw not getting emotionally attached.

I let out a small breath smile at her. "I love you, too, Princess."

She sighs a breath of relief and grins. She embraces me tighter, burying her head in my chest. I feel the heat in my face rising as she nuzzles against me. I slowly wrap one of my arms around her shoulder and rest my head on top of hers. She hums at me when I do this, rubbing her head on my chest.

Her breathing is the calmest I've heard from her. It hadn't even been this calm when she was sleeping last night. It makes me a little happy, knowing I'm making her feel safe.

I soon realize that she's fallen asleep. I look down at her, still clinging onto me. I sigh sadly. I hope that what I'm doing is the right thing. I don't want to push her away. I want her to feel safe, and being with me is clearly the safest she's felt in a long time.

I carefully reach over to grab the remote and turn the television off. I set it down and turn off the lamp. I carefully adjust us so that we're laying down. As I do all of this, Diana's still clinging to me in her sleep.

I fully lay down and look at her in the dim light. It now hits me just how beautiful she is. She's been so stressed that it's detracted from it. But now, now that she's relaxed, I can really see what she really looks like. She is truly beautiful. I lean over and gently lick the top of her head.

"Good night, Princess."


	8. Dreaded Future

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Diana**

I wake up alarmed. I quickly begin looking around.

"Perry?!" I choke out in distress.

"Hey. 'Morning," a voice calls from a side of the room. I turn to where it came from and see a dimly lit screen on the desk in the corner of the room. I can see Perry's silhouette outlined by the dim light. I relax a little bit.

"What are you doing?"

"Just checking my emails," he responds calmly. I don't answer, and he quickly continues. "What's wrong?"

"I woke up, and you weren't here and—"

"Hey, hey, shhh." He gets up and comes over. He leans over the edge of the bed, and I can barely see his face in the dim light. He runs his fingers through the fur on my head. "I'm here, don't worry."

"It's just… the last people I loved were taken from me… They were just…"

"Oh, Princess…" he whispers gently. He squeezes my shoulder. "I'm not gonna leave you…"

"You're leaving today…"

"Only for a week, then I'm right back here. I'm not leaving you, Princess."

"You can't promise that…"

"I can and I am promising that."

"But you're leaving afterwards…"

He falls silent at that. I can see conflict in his eyes. I know that his training is advanced enough that he can hide whatever he's thinking. So I have no clue what's going on in his head.

"I can't leave my family," he finally says. "So yes, afterwards, I do have to go home. But that doesn't mean we won't ever see each other. You could come with me or I could make regular visits."

At first, I'm stoked at the prospect of going with him. But then that familiar nagging appears in my gut. I can't. Not ever. Not until I get what I was promised. I look into his eyes.

"I can't go with you… I can't…"

He sighs before continuing. "Is it because of what you do?"

I look away from him, shame and disgust filling me. He clearly sees this because he grabs my face with his paws and has me face him.

"Hey, it's okay. I don't know what it is, you're right. And you're not gonna let me help you; you've made that clear. If you can't come with me, I'll visit you here, I promise."

I smile at him and begin to lean towards him, but he gets distracted by a beeping at his computer. I'm slightly miffed as he gets up and goes over to it, but I know his work is important to him. Like he told me, it's the only life he's really known.

I hear him curse under his breath. I sit up to look at him.

"Is something wrong?" I ask him, my voice still groggy.

"Not really… It's just…" he sighs. "It's Pinky. Despite telling him literally nothing aside from 'I went to the concert with someone,' he's already starting rumors and I'm getting questions from a lot of agents."

"Oh…"

"It's whatever," he says, closing his laptop. "I just wish he'd at least waited for details before telling everyone in the organization."

"What would you have told him?" I ask, getting a little excited.

"Not sure. Maybe that you fell asleep next to me twice."

I feel the heat rising in my cheeks as he says this. He goes over to the closet and opens it, getting out a small suitcase. He takes it over to the drawer and begins to pack things away. I notice something odd as he's packing.

"You're leaving things behind?" I ask, finally climbing out of the bed and going over to him.

"I've got this room reserved; I'll be back in it soon enough."

I look into the drawer and notice that he's left quite a bit of clothing. I also see that one of the drawers has a padlock on it.

Perry stands up and stretches. "Breakfast is in a few minutes. I'm gonna get a shower; give me a few and we'll go down."

He goes in the restroom and closes the door. A little bit later I hear the shower turn on.

I sit down on the bed and wait. Perry hasn't mentioned last night yet, not really. Is he regretting answering me? I can't tell; he's incredibly reserved, despite how excitable he can be at times. Or maybe that was just how he'd been acting with me on that first day. I don't know, I just hope he at least mentions what we said.

I feel a vibration in my fur. I look at the restroom door in alarm, hoping that he doesn't come out. I pull the phone out of my fur pocket. A text message displays itself on the small screen.

 _You have a client on your schedule._

I feel a familiar sickness fill my gut. _Please, not now. Not now._ I squeeze my eyes shut to prevent tears from falling from my eyes. _Please, God, make him go away_. _I don't want to keep doing this_.

I open my eyes and respond to the text.

 _Who and when?_

 _Axel at noon. Get here now and get ready._

I squeeze my eyes shut. Why does it have to be Axel? Was he really that insistent? I put my phone in my pocket and throw my head in a pillow to muffle myself. I just lay there crying, not wanting to move.

After a while, I feel something on my shoulder. I slowly lift my head out of the pillow to see Perry standing there, worry plastered all over his face. But he doesn't say anything, he instead just lifts me up and embraces me from behind.

I listen to his breathing, and it calms me down pretty quickly. I lean back onto him.

"Do you wanna get something to eat?" he asks me after a while. I shake my head. "Okay…"

 _God, tell me, why can't I just tell him everything?_

I want to so badly. Maybe he'd understand, surely he would. He's been so kind to me, even if we've only known each other for two days. He has resources, he could help, right? But can he? If he's caught trying to help us, then it's over; any hopes I have at real freedom are gone.

I close my eyes and lean the back of my head on his shoulder. "I love you…" I say again.

I feel his bill rest itself on the top of my head. "I love you, too…" he whispers. I take a deep breath. He doesn't regret it. He's embracing it.

"Perry… would you ever hate me for something I did?"

He doesn't hesitate. "No. I haven't known you for very long, but no, I know that I wouldn't." I feel him shift some and I can tell that he's looking at me. "Is that why you were crying, because of something you've done?"

"Because of what I've done… what I'm doing and what I'm going to keep doing…" I choke down a sob. I don't need to break down again. "If you knew, you'd hate me…"

"No, I wouldn't," he says again. There's a force in his voice that makes me believe him.

I close my eyes. "Thank you…"

"Come on," he whispers. "Let's get something to eat. It'll make you feel better."

I nod my head and pull away from him. He smiles and hops off of the bed. He quickly throws on some clothes and looks at me. I nod and slip off of the bed. I put on one of my new outfits and we go down to the lobby.

Despite myself, I can't bring myself to enjoy the breakfast. I keep looking over at Perry and then think about what I'm doing at noon. And everytime that comes to mind, I feel like throwing up. It's not like I'm not used to it, I'm unfortunately _too_ used to it. But that doesn't make me any less sick.

After all these years, I had thought that it would get easier if I just focus on why I'm doing this, why I don't just leave, as I'm more than capable of doing. Perry's offered to take me home with him, and I desperately want to take him up on it. But if I did, then our relationship would never fully develop; I know that, but he doesn't.

I squeeze my eyes shut as another wave of nausea hits me from the thoughts of what's coming. I force myself to swallow the bile filling my throat.

Throughout all of this, I notice that Perry hasn't taken his eyes off of me. I can tell he's more than just a little concerned by what's going on with me. He doesn't know what's going on, but it's clear that he knows that I'm distressed by it. He may not be able to empathize with me, but I can tell he wants to help in some way.

We go back up to his room after we're done eating. He flops down onto his bed and stares up at the ceiling. I snuggle up next to him. I lock my eyes with his, and he sighs audibly.

"You know I'll be back soon, right?" he says.

I nod, wrapping my arms around him in the same way I had yesterday morning. I'm not sure if I want him or just the comfort he gives me. Either would be perfect to me.

He sighs again. Something tells me he's not going to give in to me, so I just keep holding onto him, not moving. He does, however, wraps one of his arms around me.

"I don't want to lose you, Perry…"

He smiles at me. "You won't. I'm not gonna let go, Princess. Not of this." He shifts slightly and looks at the clock. He sighs. "Princess, I need to go if I'm gonna catch my bus."

I hum at him and tighten my grip. _I'm not gonna let go, either_.

He slowly pulls me off and looks me in the eyes. I realize that now is the best time for me to act. I lean forward and kiss him, locking my bill with his. He moans in surprise at what I'm doing, but doesn't push me away.

A few moments pass before I pull back, breathing heavily. He staring at me in slight shock.

"That was…" he says slowly, his breath also heavy, "… different."

I smile sheepishly. "More human than you'd expected?"

He slowly nods, staring at me a little blankly. I can't tell if he didn't like it or if he's still just processing. So I try again to see which it is.

After a while, I feel his paw on the side of my face. I let out a small moan. He _does_ like it. I feel relief and ecstasy flooding through me. This moment… it's a dream come true. A few minutes pass before we finally pull apart.

"Wow…" he breathes.

I'm lost in his dark brown eyes. After all this time, maybe I've finally found the real hope that I need. Maybe he's who I've been praying would come.

He smiles sadly at me. "I do need to go… I'll be back soon, I promise."

I squeeze my eyes shut and nod. Him leaving means that I need to go home. I can feel my sickness coming back.

I feel his paws on both sides of my face. I open my eyes.

"Are you ever going to tell me what's wrong?" he asks.

I close my eyes again. I don't know how to answer. If I tell him, he might never come back. But then again…

I take a deep breath and open my eyes. "When you get back… I'll tell you everything…"

He nods and smiles, seeming satisfied with my answer. "Everything's gonna be okay, Princess. It's all gonna work out."

I nod, not taking my eyes from his. He pulls himself off of the bed and goes into the restroom. He quickly exits with a pill and pulls some water out of the small refrigerator. He hands them to me.

"Don't want you getting sick again," he says with a smile. I gratefully swallow the pill.

He grabs his suitcase; I leave my clothes. Like he said, he'll be back, I can get them then. We head down to the lobby. As we're passing through, I notice a woman in a fancy suit give us a strange look, but I decide to ignore it. I feel Perry tense up as we pass her. We walk outside.

A while passes before we finally arrive at a bus stop. We stand there, awkwardly surrounded by humans. We're, understandably, getting weird glances from them; but they're trying to ignore us, for the most part.

I can see the bus coming up and I look at Perry. His eyes are distant, focused on something in the back of his mind. I nudge him. He looks at me and smiles.

"How will I find you when you get back?" I ask.

"Don't worry," he says, nuzzling the top of my head with his bill. "I'll find you."

The doors to the bus slide open and people begin pouring out.

I look Perry in the eye again. "Please don't go…"

"I'll be back sooner than you think," he says, suddenly serious.

I lean forward and kiss the side of his face. He smiles at me and climbs onto the bus along with the others surrounding us, leaving me alone. I see him in a window. He's looking down at me, a sad expression on his face. Maybe him leaving, even if for only a little while, hurts him as much as it hurts me.

The bus pulls away, breaking our eye contact. I stare after it and watch it turn a corner around a building, cutting my view of it. I sigh. I know I'm going to see him again.

But I also have to go home. And I'm not looking forward to it. I turn and walk down the sidewalk, headed for my dreary day.


	9. Going Undercover

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I get off at the first stop that I can, less than half a mile from where I'd boarded the bus. I quickly pay for the ride then exit.

I walk off a ways and try to flag down a taxi. I'm more than a little surprised when one actually stops. I hop in the back.

The cab driver turns around and hands me a piece of paper and a pen. "Where to?" he asks. I gawk at him, shocked at his adapting to the knowledge that he's driving a platypus around. "What, you think you're the first intelligent animal I've driven around? Just because not everyone knows 'bout you lot don't mean we all don't. Now where to?"

I quickly write down the address of the O.W.C.A.-run hotel and hand him the piece of paper. As I hand it to him, I make certain that the meter's on.

"Ah, that hotel, eh? It's pretty common for you animal folks. Something I should know about it?"

I give him a blank look.

He shrugs and within a few minutes, we're back at the hotel. I pay him accordingly and climb out. I enter the hotel and walk up to the manager. She frowns at me.

"What was that all about?" she demands. I blink at her. I don't have my notepad and pen. She sighs and shakes her head. "Whatever, it's not my business."

I nod my head in thanks then turn to go back up to my room. I open the door and walk inside. I throw my suitcase on my bed and head straight for the locked drawer. I quickly open it and get out my paired device.

It feels wrong, going through Diana's phone. It isn't the first time I've done something like this. Then again, this _is_ the first time I've done this to someone I care about. I open it up and quickly look through her calls. Nothing, no calls. Not entirely uncommon, we are animals, after all, and not many animals have phones.

I open up her texts and quickly see that there's plenty of those. All from only one person, whose handle simply reads "Mother". I raise an eyebrow at that. Didn't Diana say her parents had been killed when she was just a year old? If that's the case, then who is this?

I open up the texts and go to the very beginning.

 _Where are you? You have a client waiting._

This message had come from "Mother." It's almost two years old. I close my eyes as I remember that that's around the time Diana's parents had died. I open my eyes and look at Diana's response.

 _I'm not coming_

 _You're never getting it if you don't come._

 _What is "it"?_ I wonder, leaning back. Whatever it is, it's clearly important, considering Diana's response.

 _I'll be there soon_

I furrow my brow. I haven't learned anything from that small exchange. And despite the messages being almost two years old, there are only about two hundred more messages after that. As I scan through them, I see that as time went on, there was less protest from Diana and she simply responded to Mother's demands. I come across the most recent ones, from this morning.

Who's Axel? As I think about it, and the timing of it all, I quickly realize who it likely is. It's very possible that Axel is the bulldog who I'd put into submission. I look at the time these messages had been sent.

I close my eyes. They'd been sent just minutes before I found Diana crying. Something was about to happen and it was filling her hopelessness. That's why she wanted to know if it was possible for me to hate her. Whatever was about to happen was probably going to be horrible.

I remember the way the bulldog had been acting around Diana. There had been lust in his eyes. He'd clearly wanted to use her. And he had been familiar with her, knowing her from somewhere. I suddenly feel sick as I make the connection.

He's going to force himself onto her.

I quickly reread the messages. Okay, I have until noon. I have to find her and stop this from happening. But then I remember something.

What is "it." Diana wants whatever it is to remain protected. If I just barge in, I might lead to her losing it. And from the way she complies with Mother, she'd hate that.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Is there nothing I can do? Surely I can do something to protect her. I can't just let this Axel violate her and get away with it. She's distressed over what's about to happen, and what makes it worse is she _knows_ that it's coming. It's horrible and disgusting.

I go into the restroom and vomit into the toilet. It's making me sick knowing that I can't help her get out of this.

Then I make another connection. Axel is a "client". And if Axel is a "client"… who's probably going to do something unspeakable to Diana… and there have been "clients" for the past two years…

I vomit again. The thought of all of this makes me feel disgusting, and I'm not even the victim. I can't even imagine what Diana's been going through. I can understand why she doesn't want to talk about it.

I flush the toilet and wash my hands. I then wash my mouth out to get the acids out. I spit into the sink and look up into the mirror. I look terrible.

I look down at my watch. It's almost nine o'clock. Diana is 'seeing' Axel in three hours. I don't have long to do something. I may not be able to stop what's about to happen, but I can sure as hell start coming up with a plan.

I run out of my room and the hotel, heading to the shopping center as quickly as I can. I enter a store and within a few minutes, I've left. I head back to the hotel and quickly take a shower, lathering myself in the new, mint scented shampoo I just bought.

After that's done, I get out and dry myself off. I pick up my new temp dye and begin to coat myself in it. It takes several minutes along with very careful, precise movements. I look myself in the mirror.

I nod, satisfied. I go over to my drawer and pull out my contact case. I go back into the restroom and remove my contacts. I put them up and put in different ones. After blinking a few times, I look back into the mirror. I don't recognize the brown-fur, hazel-eyed platypus staring back at me. I check every inch of my body to make doubly certain I haven't missed a single spot.

I put on the black jeans and white hoodie I just bought on. I hide surveillance equipment on myself. I also grab a forensics kit and a medical kit…

I head down to the lobby. I approach the manager and chatter. She stares down at me, completely confused. Good, if she doesn't recognize me, then it's unlikely that Diana will.

"Can I help you?" she asks me. I nod in response and mime writing something down. She hands me a piece of paper and a pen.

I quickly write down what I want to say. _I'm Agent P. I'm going undercover. This isn't official. If I'm not back by seven tonight, inform Agent Pinky of Admiral Wanda Acronym's division._ I hand her the piece of paper. Her eyes widen as soon as she reads the first sentence.

"I didn't recognize you at all…" she mutters. She looks down at me. "Does this have to do with that other platypus?" I nod solemnly. She sighs. "I don't know what's going on, but good luck, Agent P."

I salute before turning and leaving the hotel. I pull out my phone and activate the tracker I placed on Diana. It shows her on the outskirts of the city, about an hour's walk away. I begin to head there.

As I walk down the sidewalk, I begin practicing my chattering. I need to change my speech patterns if I'm going to successfully go undercover. Diana is familiar enough with me that she'd recognize my voice if I speak.

Every step I take seems to get heavier and heavier. I was about to spy on Diana, and it makes me sick. She completely trusts me, and here I am exploiting that trust. She'd promised to tell me everything that was going on once I got back. Well, technically, I'm back.

After about thirty minutes, I've completely changed my accent. I now sounds much more like a native Australian, despite not having actually been born there. With my voice changed, I begin to work on my mannerisms.

I loosen my muscles and begin to change the way I hold my face. I'm not sure what I'm going to come across. Whatever it is I'm about to walk into, I have a feeling it's going to require me to compartmentalize.

I pull out my phone and check my messages. Pinky's texted me, and I also have a message from my "ally." I delete the latter without looking at it and read Pinky's message.

 _anything exciting happen btwn u 2?_

I feel my eye twitch as I remember the connections I'd made and the likelihood that I was correct in my assumptions.

 _Screw it,_ I think. _I'm not hiding this anymore._ I respond to his message.

 _She's in danger, Pinky._

I put my phone up and keep walking down the street, continuing to practice my facial reactions. My phone vibrates a few moments later. I look for a bench and sit down, pulling my phone out of my pocket again.

 _What happened, Perry?_

 _She's involved in something and I don't know what to do. I can't do anything to help. I just don't know what to do._

 _Do you love her?_

 _Yes._

 _Does she know?_

 _Yes._

 _Isn't that enough?_

 _Unfortunately, no. Something's going on. I'm trying to figure out how to help._

 _Do you need me to come and help?_

 _No, amigo. I just need to think. Thank you for talking to me._

 _Perry, I'm your friend. I'm here if you need me. Let me know if I can help._

 _I will. Thank you._

I put my phone away and look up at the sky. Knowing that Pinky is willing to come at a moment's notice really lifts my spirits. He's a great friend, and I'm more than thankful that he's there for me. I take a deep breath, stand up, and continue to make my way to where Diana's signal is coming from.

It seems to take forever, but I find where it's coming from. I check my watch. It's almost eleven o'clock. I suck in my breath at the sight of what's before me.

I'm staring at a huge mansion. It's two stories high, ornately decorated with columns at its entrance. There are white bricks donning the outside of the building. It looks very modern. I look up and down it from a distance, hidden behind another building. I begin observing the area around the mansion.

About forty minutes pass and then I see someone approach the mansion. I feel a growl rise in my throat. I was right.

Axel is the bulldog from the concert.

It takes all of my self control not to rush out and beat the hell out of him. He enters the mansion.

* * *

I just wait, not keeping track of time. However, I do eventually see Axel walk out of the mansion. I look at my watch. It's two o'clock.

I cover my mouth, resisting the urge to empty my intestines again. As he walks away from the mansion, I begin to approach him.

He notices me almost instantly and tenses up.

"'Ello there, mate," I call to him, grateful that I'm able to focus enough to keep up my acting.

He cocks an eyebrow at me. "What the fuck do you want?"

"I heard about this place from a friend of mine," I say, indicating the mansion. "He didn't say much, though."

"Is that so?" Axel asks, turning to face me. "And what are you looking to know?"

"What it is," I say, letting a devilish grin cross my face. "He mentioned the place being a lot of 'fun,' if you catch my drift. I wanna get in on it."

"Your friend of client of theirs?"

"A client?" I ask, blinking. "Fuck if I know. The bastard didn't say much, just that I should ask someone I see walking out."

Axel raised an eyebrow at me. I hope he's buying it. "Your friend talks too much."

"Yeah. He's a real earbasher."

Axel narrows his eyes at me. I barely manage to resist the urge to swallow my saliva.

"Go in the front door, and talk to Mother. She's the human at the front desk. She can set you up with an 'appointment.'" He snickers as he says the last word. "I just got done with mine: got two rounds for the price of one!"

I had difficulty holding back earlier, so I have no idea how I don't snap at this. He's right in front of me, it would be so easy to strangle him.

"If Mother's human then how will she understand me?"

"Same as the rest of us: paper and pen," Axel says with a shrug. "Have fun! And considering your species, I recommend signing up for Diana. She's a blast!"

I feel the fire in my chest grow as my rage becomes almost unmanageable. If I didn't think that Diana's life was possibly in danger, I probably would've killed Axel here and now.

Axel laughs and walks away, clearly pleased with himself. I turn away from him, disgusted, and walk up to the mansion. I open the front door and walk inside.


	10. Mother's Mansion

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Diana**

It's been twenty minutes since Axel left and I still haven't moved. I'm simply lying face down, my head in my pillow, crying my eyes out. I feel sick.

It's never hurt this badly. Yes, it's hurt every time I've gone through it, but this time, it hurts worse, since there's someone I want…

The thought of Perry makes me breakdown even worse. What would he think if he knew? What makes it worse is I promised to tell him everything, so he will know…

I hear a knocking at my door. I gather myself as quickly as I can before going over to the door. I open it to see Mother standing there. I do everything I can to not flinch at the sight of the grey woman.

"Get your room cleaned up," her harsh, shrill voice comes at me. _Now_ I flinch. "You've got another client in thirty minutes."

She closes the door, leaving me staring at it in despair.

 _Another?! Why me, God? Help me, please,_ **_please!_**

But despite my praying, I know that that isn't going to stop what's coming. So I do what Mother told me: I clean up my room. I make up my bed accordingly and pick up things that Axel had knocked onto the floor in his excitement. I feel weak as I'm walking around. Axel hadn't let up almost the entire time he'd been here.

After I finish, I lay face down on my bed and sigh. I can't let myself cry again, not right now. Mother would get angry with me, and I can't let that happen.

A few minutes pass before I hear a knocking at my door again. I gather myself and lie down on my bed the way Mother had taught me to when meeting a 'client.'

As the door opens, I pray that it's not going to be too bad. I've had too many bad experiences with certain clients.

I let out a small sigh as a large, brown platypus in baggy clothing walks into the room, closing the door behind himself. He smiles lustfully at me.

"G'day, sheila. What should I call you, love?"

"Diana," I reply curtly. "You're new. What's your name?"

"I'm Bartholomew," he stalks towards me. He reaches out a paw and places it on my shoulder. "But you can call me Barry."

"And what do you want to do, Barry?" I ask, leaning forward, as I've been trained to.

Barry leans forward, and as I try to kiss him, he adjusts himself to avoid it and whispers into my ear. "Princess…"

I abruptly pull away from him, my eyes wide with shock. His paw is still on my shoulder.

"Princess," he says again, his voice barely loud enough to even be considered a whisper. "Is this room soundproof?"

"Perry?" I mouth at him, unable to make a noise. This is impossible, right? Perry's out of town by now. Unless…!

For the first time in a long time, my prayer's been answer.

He nods, then repeats his question. I shakily nod my head.

He continues, still in a whisper. "Are there security cameras in here?" I shake my head in response. He takes a deep breath and sighs.

"H-H-How…?" I barely manage to get out. "Why— why are you here?"

"I'm here to help," he says, dropping the accent he'd used. "I figured out what's going on."

I suck in my breath. Surely this isn't happening. I'm glad that it's Perry here, but he shouldn't be here!

"You can't be here!" I exclaim. "You could ruin everything!"

"Which is why I came alone and undercover," he responds quickly. "I'm not going to try and interfere, no matter how much I want to. What you're being put through sickens me."

I throw my arms around his neck. I feel his arms wrap themselves around my waist. In this moment, I forget about what happened an hour ago. I just feel safe again, finally safe. But the hurt soon comes back almost as quickly as it had left.

I stop holding back and cry into his fur. I feel one of his paws move up my back and rest itself above my shoulder blade. He begins to gently rub me.

"Shh… I'm here now… He can't hurt you…"

I sob even harder as his words seep into me. I can't help it. With him, I can finally let my walls down. Being in his arms is the perfect medicine for my pain.

"Princess, what did he _do_ to you?"

I didn't think it was possible to cry harder than I am, but his question makes me.

"God, Perry, it was horrible…" I gasp out.

"Hey hey hey hey. Shhh. Shhh… It's okay, it's okay…" He tightens his grip on me. I think it's his way of letting me know he's got me. It's working.

He doesn't say another word. I don't know how long he just held me and let me cry into his neck, but it's a long time.

I pull myself out of his arms. "How did you find this place?"

A look crosses his face. I think it's shame. "I'm really good at my job," is his answer, and I can tell it's the most he's going to give me. "Princess. What did he do?"

I choke as another sob threatens. I force it down. Well, he says he figured it out anyways, I need to tell him. "Perry… if you know what this place is, then you know what he did…"

He pulls out his phone and shows me the screen. It's recording sound. "You need to say it out loud." I breath in sharply as I realize what's going on. He's gathering evidence. Before I can say anything, he continues. "I'm not going to use this until you let me. I already have Axel admitting to something, but it's useless without corroboration."

I squeeze my eyes shut. "You made things worse…" I hear him catch his breath. I open my eyes and see hurt in his. "His deal was that he wouldn't tell Mother what happened at the concert if I— if I—"

 _I can't say it. God, I can't say it._

Perry puts his paws on the sides of my face and looks into my eyes. He's trying to give me strength to continue. So I do.

"This is Mother's Mansion. Mother took us from our families when we were young. She either just took us from our parents or killed them. We're kept here for her 'business.'

"Axel is a 'client.' God, I hate that word…" Perry moves one of his paws to my shoulder. I smile gratefully at him. "Since you paid to get in here, you know that they pay for 'services.' Perry… for two years she's been— she's been forcing us to mate with clients for money."

Perry squeezes his eyes shut and draws in his breath. "God…" he whispers. "I was hoping I was wrong…"

"It's what we were trained to do from the moment we got here."

"That's why the only way you could think of to thank me was…" he trails off. I nod sadly. "How many of you are there?"

"Nineteen."

"Are you all animals?" I nod in response, not sure if I can keep talking. "Princess, you have to say it out loud."

I take a deep breath. "Yes, all of the 'employees' are animals. But… not all of the clients are."

Perry covers his mouth in shock after I say this. A few seconds later I see his cheeks bulge slightly. He swallows. "You need to be more exact, Princess…"

I take a deep breath; tears are threatening me again. "Some of them are humans…"

Perry squeezes his eyes shut and leans back. I close my eyes, too. I don't want to start crying again. I feel Perry's arms wrap around me again. I hug him back, choking on another sob.

"It's okay, Princess, it's okay…"

I sniff as I try to get myself under control. To my shock, Perry isn't even remotely angry with me. He's being as sympathetic as he can. I don't deserve him after all I've done over the years.

He gently pulls away and looks me in the eye again. "Princess, what is it that Mother will take if you don't cooperate?"

My eyes widen. "How could you possibly know about that?!"

"Like I said earlier, I'm really good at my job. I don't know what it is, but I know it's why you aren't leaving. Whatever it is, it's important."

I look away from him. This is my most closely guarded secret. Only Mother and the other animals here know it, since it's theirs, too. I take a deep breath. Perry _needs_ to know. Because he's the one that I want my future to belong to.

"It's… it's a cure." I manage to choke out.

He leans forward. "A cure… For who and what?"

"For— for me. And the others. It'll— it…" I find myself unable to finish.

He gently places his paws on my face. Before I can process, he leans in and kisses me. Well, he tries to. He clearly has no idea how to; it's not natural for us. But it doesn't matter. I close my eyes, melting from the comfort he always gives me. He pulls back and looks at me, nothing but compassion in his eyes.

"Princess…"

I nod. "When Mother catches one of us, she poisons us. This poison, it—" I take a deep breath and finish my sentence in the way Mother would, "it permanently stops our ovulation cycles."

Perry almost falls over, a look of pure horror crossing over his face. I squeeze my eyes shut.

"I have to stay if I ever want to have children…"


	11. Mother's Mansion II

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

Oh my God, what have I stumbled onto?

Her words are still bouncing around in my head.

It all makes sense now. She can't leave Los Angeles because if she gets a 'client' ( _holy shit, that word is suddenly making me sick_ ) and she doesn't show up, it's all over. Her hopes at having a family are gone.

She wouldn't have that hope if she'd just been spayed. If she had been, then she would just try to escape.

But no, Mother's put her and all of the other animals here on some kind of permanent birth control and the only way they can get off of it is to get the cure for it. A likely false hope, but their only one. It's twisted.

"You say Mother has this cure," I start. "What guarantee do you have that it's real and that you'll eventually get it?"

"I've seen it work before." She sounds damaged, emotionally tormented. "Once we no longer bring in enough money, we're given it and allowed to go."

I furrow my brow when she says this. "Wouldn't someone who's left just go to the authorities?"

She almost laughs at me. Almost. "What authorities? The O.W.C.A.? They aren't going to help us; they'd try to raid this place and Mother would destroy the cure. The police? They can't help us. We're animals, they aren't legally obligated to help us."

"This is animal abuse at the very least," I say. "And I don't know if you know this or not, but it's illegal for humans to mate with animals here in America."

She looks at me with what appears to be hope, but it quickly drains away. "Perry, we wouldn't do that to each other. If one of us comes out, it's over for all of us…"

I close my eyes. She's right, I know, but I need to try and think of some way to help with _something_. Then I remember the kits I brought with me. I look at her.

"Princess…" I say gently, knowing that what I'm about to ask her to do is incredibly awkward. "I… I brought a, um, a medical kit with me. I— um. I need to, um, take samples."

Her face turns a deep shade of red, despite her teal fur. "Wh-what?!"

I clear my throat. "I'm sorry, but if I'm going to identify Axel with what happened, then I need— I need what he, um, 'left behind.'"

She backs away from me, shock and mistrust filling her face. I don't blame her, not after what happened.

"Princess… do you trust me?"

She starts to tremble and shuts her eyes. She doesn't answer me.

I don't blame her for what's happening. It's not her fault. Her only family was taken from her when she was just a child, and her only hope at having another is keeping her here. This isn't her fault. She needs to know this.

"Princess, this isn't your fault. None of this is your fault. None of it." She opens her eyes and looks at me. Tears begin to escape her again. I continue in a whisper. "It's not your fault…"

She takes a deep breath. It's what she needed to hear. She's probably needed to hear it for years.

"I trust you…" she whispers.

I nod my head and pick up my phone. I speak into the microphone. "My name is Agent Perry Bartholomew Flynn-Fletcher, O.W.C.A., Primary Danville Division, and I hereby submit this evidence with the consent of Diana the platypus."

I stop recording and put my phone in my fur pocket under my hoodie. I pull out both of the kits I'd grabbed and open them. I put plastic gloves on and pick up a swab. I turn to Diana.

"Do what I say and this will be over quickly," I instruct. She squeezes her eyes shut and nods her head. As I begin, a dry thought enters my head.

 _It's a good thing you didn't give in to her earlier._

I shudder at this and refocus on my job.

A few moments later, I put the swab in a small bag and add some chemicals. I gently shake the bag and watch as the clear chemicals gain color, indicating the presence of semen. I let out a sigh.

As I had collected that sample, I'd spotted white hairs. They aren't hers. I grab tweezers and a bag, then store them as well.

A few minutes later, I'm done. I've collected more than I probably needed to, but I'd wanted to be thorough. I put my gloves in the underside of the forensics kit and put both kits away.

"Okay," I say gently. "I'm done." Diana opens her eyes and takes a deep breath. I clear my throat again. "How long do these, um, sessions, usually last?"

She cringes. "About thirty minutes to an hour…"

Anger begins to fuel me again. Axel had been here for almost two hours. I force my rage down and look at my watch. It's past 3:30 p.m..

"I've been here for more than thirty minutes. I should go."

Hey eyes widen and she grabs my arm. "No! No, you can't go!"

I stare at her in confusion. "Princess, I need to get this into storage."

She begins speaking quickly, clearly distressed. "Perry, you don't understand, you _can't_ leave. You paid to get in here. If Mother even _suspects_ that I didn't do what you paid for…"

A sick feeling begins to form in my gut. I don't like where this is going. "Diana, what are you saying?"

She swallows. "I'm sorry, I— I know how much this means to you. But if she thinks that I refused you… 'services'… then she's going to punish me. And there's only one punishment here."

I look into her eyes, searching for what I desperately hope isn't there. But it is. Pure sorrow. If I leave right now, Diana will never get that cure.

I squeeze my eyes shut and lean back. This _can't_ be happening. It _can't_ be. No, _no,_ _ **no!**_

Diana pulls me up onto the bed with her and kisses me. I don't react at all. She pulls away.

"I'm sorry…" I whisper. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

She sniffs. "Don't be," she chokes out. "Perry, don't be…"

"I'm so sorry…"

She kisses me again and pulls herself on top of me.


	12. Forgive Me

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

Guilt.

That's what I feel.

Regret. Shame. Sadness. Anger. But guilt is the worst of them all.

What the hell was I thinking, going into that place? That I was just going to go in, record some audio, plant some cameras and microphones, and collect evidence? God, I'm such an idiot.

It's been a long while since I left Mother's Mansion. When I'd gotten back to the hotel, I immediately looked for the manager and asked her to take me to the storage lockers that the O.W.C.A. uses for biological evidence. After depositing the evidence I'd collected and instructing her to do nothing with it aside from keep it there, I went to my room.

Once I got in, I threw the tracker into the drawer. I removed it from Princess' shoulder when I was rubbing her back. After I closed the drawer, I allowed myself to process what had happened. God, it hurt.

And now I'm lying face down on my bed, crying to myself. It's not something I normally do, but I can't help it. I hurt someone I love. I hurt her. Oh God, I hurt her…

I'm no better than Axel or any of the other clients.

After what's probably been hours, I literally run out of tears to cry from dehydration. I force myself to get off of the bed and head over to the refrigerator.

As I walk, I pass the mirror. My eyes are red and the brown hair dye around them is almost completely gone, revealing the bright teal underneath. My expression looks dead.

I open up the fridge and down an entire bottle of water. I toss it to the side and pull out another. I empty it, too. I try to reach for a third, but there aren't any left. I close the fridge and lean my back onto it, slumping to the floor.

I pull my legs to my chest and hide my face in my knees. My intestines growl at me: I haven't eaten since breakfast. But I don't care. I'm not hungry. I try to sigh, but it comes out as a cough.

I stand up, walk back to the bed and collapse. I try to start crying again, but I'm too exhausted. So I try to go to sleep, but I can't. Despite only knowing her for three days, I'd gotten used to Diana's presence, and now that she isn't here, I find sleep impossible.

 _Well. Tough. She's not here. Get over it._

I try to get over her absence, but I can't. Every time I try, the thought of what I did comes back, and that just reminds me of why it hurts so much.

 _I shouldn't have gotten emotionally involved._

But could I have helped it? I can't help how I feel, can I? I've been trained to suppress my instincts, but is it even possible to suppress emotions? I doubt it. Because if it is possible, then it isn't working right now.

I can't fall asleep. So I just lay face down on the mattress that we've been sharing, unmoving.

I hear a knocking at my door. I don't get up to answer it.

 _Fuck off_ , I think. The knocking comes again. _I left a Do Not Disturb sign on the damn door, so just fuck off._

I hear a beep, indicating that the door's been unlocked. I hear it open.

"The sign says 'do not disturb,'" I say. My voice is hoarse and muffled by the blankets.

I hear quick footsteps approach. They stop just short of the bed.

"Perry?" a quiet chatter comes.

I recognize that voice… Wait a second…!

I quickly turn my head and look up to see Diana watching me, her face replete with concern.

"Pr-Pr-Princess?" I sputter. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

She steps towards me and rests her paw on my cheek. "I wanted to see you. You… you look…"

"Princess, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for—"

She shakes her head. "No. Don't apologize, Perry. It— It wasn't your fault. I know you wouldn't hurt me. I know you wouldn't."

I shakily reach out one of my paws and place it on her cheek. She places her free paw on it.

"Why on earth would you want to see me after that?"

"Because I love you, and that won't change."

I choke on a sob at that. "How…?"

She smiles sadly at me. "Because you're the first creature I've ever met who wanted to get to know me for _me_. You treat me with respect, you always do."

"But… after what I did…"

She doesn't say anything. She leans down and gently kisses me on the forehead. I close my eyes, suddenly overcome by my exhaustion.

I hear her step away, but I barely register it before falling asleep.

* * *

I wake up in a pool of water. I try to flail, but I hit my arms against something hard.

I realize that whatever I'm in, it's shallow. I open my eyes. Where am I?

I'm in the bathtub…

I feel something begin to scrub at my head. I look over and see Diana standing at the edge of the tub, rag in hand, my blueberry scented shampoo to the side.

I would normally complain about privacy, but I'm too tired. So I just close my eyes as she begins to gently rub the dye out of my fur. I feel her hands move to work on my face; I turn my head towards her.

Despite myself, despite my guilt, despite how terrible I feel, I find myself enjoying this. A quiet purr escapes my throat. Her hands settle on the sides of my face. I slowly open my eyes and see her smiling at me.

"I know you're not going to stop apologizing," she says. "So I'm just going to say this so you don't have to again. I forgive you."

I suck in my breath. Is she really not angry with me? I don't understand how that's possible; I don't deserve it.

I can feel tears filling my eyes again. I lean my head against the porcelain. She hugs my head, nuzzling her bill to mine. I close my eyes.

"Thank you…" I murmur groggily.

No more words are exchanged between us. She lets go of me and starts working again. I feel the rag scrubbing my face again. It slowly moves down to my neck, chest, back and further.

It's a while before she's finished. She had to replace the water twice because it had gotten so murky. But she's finished cleaning me, top to bottom, revealing my teal fur again. For once in my life, I didn't mind being given a bath. I think that means something.

I drag myself out of the tub with her assistance and she starts drying me off. It goes by quickly. My watertight fur really helps with that.

She leaves the restroom to allow me to take care of my business alone. I finish soon and, after washing my hands and putting in my normal contacts, exit it. She leads me over to the bed and helps me climb into it. I don't protest as she crawls up next to me and wraps her arms around my neck.

"Princess…" I whisper. She hums at me in response. "I don't deserve this… I'm so sorry…"

She shakes her head at me. "I already told you: I forgive you. For— for the first time in my life, I enjoyed it."

She pulls me to her and kisses me. I feel my heart melting from the passion she puts into it.

Does she really forgive me? I'm not sure, but I want to believe her. I seriously want to believe that she doesn't feel betrayed. I don't think that I can. But for now, I feel her comfort and let myself indulge in it.


	13. Permanence

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Diana**

For the first time in three days, I wake up to the sunlight. I'm confused at first, but then I realize something.

Perry's still asleep. He's still in my arms. And I'm still in his. I smile as I remember last night.

Perry had let me clean him up. Admittedly, I didn't do a great job, but he'd looked terrible. I had to do something. It was clear that he was feeling immensely guilty because of what happened. It wasn't his fault, I know that. I had echoed his words to try and convey that to him.

While I was washing him, I found several scars covering his toned body. Many of them are covered by fur, but some are pretty easy to find. One in particular stuck out to me for some reason: a small cut on his back. I don't know what about it fascinates me. The scars tell a story: a story of a hard life. I can tell he's been through a lot. I guess we have that in common.

I hadn't lied to him last night. It was the first time in my life I had enjoyed being intimate with someone. _Every_ time before had been forced on me. Hundreds of times.

But that one time… it was almost like a dream come true. But Perry hadn't enjoyed it, and that ruined it. He'd been so overcome with guilt over what was happening to let himself enjoy it. Which is why I knew I had needed to see him.

And I was right. He was a wreck. He'd been crying for hours. He'd been too tired to even get out of bed on his own. I'm grateful to the manager for giving me a key to his room. It had taken some convincing but she did finally concede.

It's a good thing, too. Perry had needed me, desperately. I may have not known him for very long, but I know that he values respect. He values his integrity, and he'd been forced to violate it. I wish I could say that I can't imagine what he's going through, but I can.

Throughout the entire night, Perry had done nothing but restrain himself. He hadn't allowed himself to go beyond making out with me. It was heartbreaking. There's nothing I want more right now than to fix what happened earlier, for both of us. I don't think he trusts himself anymore. I want to help him the same way he's helped me. I want to help him find that spark again. I want to help him find what made him so full of life.

I gaze lovingly at his resting face. He's peaceful right now. I want this to last forever. After the way I saw him last night, I don't want this moment to slip away.

I know that I love him, but I think it's only now that I realize just how much. I've prayed for two years that I would find someone who would come and help me, save me. I believe that Perry is who was sent. I don't want to ever leave him. I'm never going to leave him. I echo his words from yesterday.

"I'm never gonna let go."


	14. Let It Begin

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I feel something brushing against my back. I open my eyes and see Diana's smiling face. Her arm is wrapped over me, her paw slowly rubbing up and down my back. I think she's tracing one of my scars. I slowly blink, gazing into her emerald eyes.

"Hey, Princess…" I whisper. My voice is still hoarse.

"Good morning." Her smile deepens. "How do you feel?"

I remember all of the events of yesterday. So… they weren't a nightmare. They were real, they happened. But then I look into her eyes again. She's worried. She's worried about me. She really does forgive me.

"Terrible," I answer truthfully, "but better. Thank you…"

Diana leans forward and kisses me again. I hug her tightly to myself. I still don't know how to return her kiss. It's not natural for animals. I have no idea how she does it.

There's serious passion in her. She's trying to make me feel better through her actions. It's working more than she probably thinks it is.

She pulls away and rests her head against my neck. "I love you, Perry… I love you…"

I smile and nuzzle the top of her head. "I love you, too…"

"Perry…" Her voice drops to a whisper. "I don't want to ever leave you."

I furrow my brow. "You don't have to…"

"No, Perry, you don't understand." She pulls slightly away from me and looks me in the eye. "I want… I want this to be permanent. I want _this_ to be permanent." She puts one of her paws on my chest.

It takes me a few seconds to realize what she's asking me. I had never considered it before the other day, when she'd first told me how she really felt. I search her eyes. There's sincerity in them. And fear. She's afraid of what I might say.

My whole life, I've only focused on my job and my family. The thought of having a mate has always been one of the furthest things from my mind. But then I met Diana, and I realized that something was missing. I know it's not just my instincts acting in me. I suppress _those_ instincts. It's something else that's missing.

Companionship.

Pinky comes close to filling that void in my life. Carrie comes close. Drake the duck comes close. But the fact remains that I've been lonely. None of them have done what Diana has. So my answer doesn't surprise me when I give it to her.

"I love you, Princess." I put my paw on her chest and smile. "This _is_ permanent. I won't leave you."

She grins and embraces me. I wrap my arms and tail around her, holding her as tightly to my body as I can.

"Hey, Perry…" she whispers. I hum at her questioningly. "I'm hungry."

Talk about a segue. Despite myself, I laugh. Besides, I haven't eaten since breakfast _yesterday_. "Same. Come on, let's go get something."

We drag ourselves out from under the covers. Diana heads to the restroom and I look at myself in the mirror. There are still a few splotches of brown stuck in my fur, but I'm actually pretty cleaned up. She did a really good job considering my exhausted self had offered no help whatsoever.

I hear the shower turn on. It's probably the first time she's cleaned herself in over a day. And considering everything that's happened, I imagine she feels… just…

I check my phone to see if Pinky's sent me any more messages. He has. It's from last night.

 _Perry, how are you?_

I smile. He really is a great friend. He's always making certain I'm okay.

 _I'm better. But I still don't know if everything's okay._

He responds almost instantly. I look at the time. Holy crap, it's 10:30. Did I really sleep in that long?

 _Is she okay?_

 _Kinda. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I have a feeling that things are going to heat up quickly._

 _Is there anything, ANYTHING, that I can do to help?_

 _Probably. But not right now. There can't be any interference, I'm sorry._

 _It's okay. Perry, seriously, I'm here to help. Just tell me when._

 _I will. Trust me, I will. See ya soon._

I put my phone on its charger and open my laptop, sitting down at the desk. I hear the shower turn off. She'll still be a few more minute.

I, thankfully, don't have another message from my "ally," so I begin to look through my emails. I've got a lot of personal messages from multiple agents. There isn't any gossip. They're all asking if everything's okay.

I smile. Pinky told everyone that something is wrong. And now everyone is checking to see if I'm going to be alright. I had never realized that this many agents care about me. It makes me feel appreciated. I reply to each email, expressing my gratitude for their concern, but explain absolutely nothing. Diana deserves her privacy. I close my laptop.

Diana exits the restroom, still drying herself off. I go in to wash the rest of the dye out of my fur. I'm grateful that she cleaned me up last night. I don't think she knows just how much it means to me that she's willing to do something like that for me. It must've been difficult for her, since I weigh more than three times as much as she does and twice as much an average male.

A few minutes later, I exit the restroom, having sufficiently cleaned myself and taken care of my business. It's eleven o'clock already, lunch time.

"So, where to?" I ask. Diana doesn't answer me. She throws herself on me, knocking us to the floor. "Pr-Princess?!"

"Perry…"

Laying on top of me, Diana kisses me again. I wrap my arms around her, and attempt, but likely fail, to return her kiss. A few minutes pass before she pulls back slightly.

"Please…" she pleads. "Please, Perry, please, stop restraining yourself."

"I—" I start to object, but stop when I realize that I'm trying to. Just like last night, I _am_ trying to give more, but I can't bring myself to. "I can't. I—"

She shuts me up with another kiss. "Please, Perry. You won't hurt me…" She resumes kissing me.

She trusts me, likely with her life. And despite her forgiving me, I don't think I can ever forgive myself. I love her, but I don't trust myself with her. Not after what happened.

But then I remember her words from last night.

" _For the first time in my life, I enjoyed it."_

Diana enjoys being with me. She enjoys our time together, good or bad. So maybe, just maybe, I can to.

I tighten my grip on her and stop holding back.

* * *

We go to the restaurant that we seem to keep going back to. We both order something different to the last time we were here. The entire time we're eating, I can't take my eyes off of Diana.

It was almost two o'clock before we left the hotel to go and eat. And now that we're here, I find myself not as hungry as I thought I'd be. What happened between us today meant more to me than I'd expected it to.

I notice that Diana's acting much the same way I am, and as time goes by, I find myself even more drawn to her. I really am in love, more than I'd first realized. I think that she's what I've always been missing.

"Princess… come home with me."

Diana's expression changes from one of endearment to one of alarm. "Perry, I can't do that! I can't!"

"Princess," I say, allowing more force to enter my voice. "It's killing you. I'm sorry for analyzing you like this, but I can't help it. Every time it crosses your mind, you get this look in your eye. It's literally killing you."

She falls silent and stares down at her food.

"Princess, I love you." I can hear my voice cracking. "I don't want anything to happen to you…"

"Perry, if I leave I'll never have kids…" Her voice is distant and her eyes don't meet mine. "I— I don't want that. I want to have kids more than you can imagine."

I let this sink in. She wants kids, and she loves me, so she likely wants them with me. And… I find myself completely open to the possibility, despite how unlikely I think it is. "Then we need to get that cure." She looks up at me, her eyes wide. "If we get it, even just some of it, it's over: you'll be free. The O.W.C.A. has scientists who can mass produce it and we can free everyone in Mother's grasp."

"I— I don't know where it is. We aren't allowed to look around the mansion. We're only allowed on the first floor. We don't have access to the second floor or the basement."

I lean forward, put my paws on my temples and close my eyes, deep in thought.

Mother's Mansion is ginormous. Even if I searched it for hours, I probably wouldn't be able to find the cure. Especially not without getting caught. The cure is likely being kept somewhere secluded. If it's like any other antidote, it'll be stored in a drawer or a cupboard.

And if it's the only thing keeping them from trying to escape or going to the authorities, then it'll be hidden very well. It's entirely possible that it's in a hidden room, or in the basement, as Diana implied. But still, I've seen the building. I've been inside of it. It's much bigger than one would expect just from looking at it.

Which means that I can't do this on my own.

I open my eyes. "I can have a team put together." Diana looks ready to protest. "We aren't going to raid the mansion. I can make certain that only our stealthiest agents are selected for it. Yes, it'll be risky, but it's our best bet."

Diana looks down at her food again. She closes her eyes. "Let me— let me think about it. Please, let me think about it…"

"Of course," I say quietly. I reach over and put my paw on her shoulder. "Princess, it's going to be okay. It'll all work out."

She opens her eyes and sighs. "I hope so."

Her eyes suddenly divert to her side. I know what it is. Her phone just vibrated. I begin to feel sick. She looks at me, unsure of what to do.

I nod. "I know about the phone."

She gulps, pulls it out and begins reading. It's a flip-phone. Bare minimum. She sucks in her breath and squeezes her eyes shut. "No, no, God, please, no, not now! _Please!_ "

"Diana," I lean forward, dread filling me. "What is it?"

"I… I…"

I take a deep breath and let it out. I feel my rage beginning to boil again. "It's Mother, isn't it." She shakily nods her head. "It's a 'client,' isn't it?" She nods again. I close my eyes for just a moment. I open them, knowing they've adopted a look of steel. Agent P has taken over. "Come on."

"What?" she chokes out.

I grab her paw and drag her away from the table. I quickly pay for our food and rush us out the door.

"Perry, where are we going?!"

"The hotel. I'm not sending you back there empty-handed."

"I need to respond to her!"

"Then respond, but don't slow down."

I hear her typing on the phone as I lead us back to the hotel. I rush us up to my room.

"How long do we have?"

"He's going to be there at five."

She's responding to me quickly, good. It's almost as if she's had training. And I had seen where she pulled the phone from: a fur pocket. She is either former-O.W.C.A. or she's the child of an O.W.C.A. agent. Either way is good because that means that while I'm in the mode I'm in right now, she'll be able to at least somewhat keep up.

I look at the clock. "That give us just over two hours. Okay, take a shower. Wash my scent off of you completely. Make certain, and I mean _absolutely certain_ , that you've completely cleaned yourself. I mean that. We don't leave to leave _any_ of me on you."

She quickly does as she's told, rushing into the restroom. I go over to the locked drawer and open it. I pull out a small microphone and set it on the desk. I open up my laptop and type out an email. I attach the audio file from yesterday to it. I list some instructions on it and send it. I know Diana told me to let her think about it, but, quite frankly, fuck that. I'm not letting her or any of the other eighteen animals in Mother's Mansion go through this any longer.

About thirty minutes pass before Diana finally walks out of the restroom. She's efficient, I note. I make several passes over her with my nose and can't pick myself up on her. I nod my approval.

"Good. Now…" I walk over to the desk and pick up the microphone. I hand it to her. "Bury this in the fur around your neck."

"Perry, what is this all about?" she protests. But she does as I told her.

"Princess, you _do_ remember what we did this morning, right?" I see her face turn red through her fur. "Exactly. My presence would contaminate anything."

"You plan on doing that again?" she asks hesitantly. I nod my head. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She nods. "You're right. You're right, it's for the best."

"It's the only way we can stop those bastards from hurting anyone else. And the disc you just put in your fur is a microphone."

Her eyes widen and she reaches to remove it.

"Princess," I say quickly, "I know you don't want that; believe me, I don't either. But it'll be more concrete than the samples we would collect otherwise."

She hesitates for a few seconds, but she lowers her hands. I walk back to the drawer and pull out the tracker. I hand it to her.

"This is a tracker. I want you to put it on whoever it is."

She examines it for an uncomfortable amount of time before looking up at me. "Is… is this how you found the mansion? Was this on me?"

I take a deep breath. I'm not going to lie to her. "Yes. I wasn't going to lose you." She closes her eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Diana shakes her head and opens her eyes. "No, no. Stop saying that. I'm glad you did it."

I can't tell if she's being genuine when she says that, but right now, that isn't important. She puts the tracker into one of her fur pockets. I go over to my laptop and make certain that the microphone is transmitting. It is.

I look at the clock again. "You've got two and a half hours. You should probably go…" She gets a sad expression and tries to hug me. I back away. "I'm sorry. I want to, but we _need_ to keep my scent off of you."

She looks hurt when I say this. It pains me, but I force it down. I need to keep going about this as Agent P, not as Perry. Perry could compromise us.

She nods her head and walks over to the door. She turns and looks at me.

"I'm sorry, Perry…"

I shake my head, not meeting her eyes. "We aren't starting this again. It's like you said. You don't have a choice…"

She looks like she's about to start crying. And I don't blame her. If I was going through what she's been going through for the past two years, I probably would be, too. That isn't to say that I know what she's going through, because I have no clue how horrible it's been.

She leaves the room.

* * *

Diana speaks to me on the way to the mansion. She knows I can't respond to her. But the microphone does let her know that, even though I may not be there physically, I'm not far, and I'm here to help.

But once she gets back to the mansion, she falls silent. I can hear her cleaning up her room. I remember it; it surprisingly has a lot of character to it. Mother probably wants the animals to decorate them so that things appear normal.

Most of the room hadn't really stuck out to me, but it did tell me how Diana felt. It has muted colors. She feels trapped, with only a few beacons of hope.

I had seen some grooming products on a dresser with a mirror. On a desk in the corner, I had spotted a Bible. That confused me, since most humans view us animals as not having souls. Then again, any hope is good for her, and the hope of a God that loves her is probably perfect for her. So I hadn't said anything.

I had seen a Love Händel poster on the wall. Their songs are one of the few things that she enjoys. Seeing it on the wall almost filled me with dread. It had likely been that poster that had influenced Axel to go the concert the other day.

I hear the bed shifting as she lays down on it through my headphones. She starts talking again.

" _I've only got a few minutes before he shows up… Perry, I wish you were here…_ "

I squeeze my eyes shut. She sounds terrified. For a few moments, I let Agent P go away.

"I wish I was, too…"

" _Are you even there?_ " her voice comes again. " _Are you even listening to me? Or am I just talking to myself? I hope you're there. I don't want to be alone. I've been alone for years…_ "

I take a deep breath. It depresses me knowing that _that's_ what we've been feeling together. It's one of the things we have in common.

" _Perry… I-I want… if I get out of this… I want— I want to raise a family with you._ "

I smile. I had been correct in my assumption that she wants kids with me. That fills me with an odd happiness that I can't identify. But it doesn't change my doubts to the actual possibility of it.

" _If… if that's what you want, too, then… Then I want you to try and get the cure. I know it's not fair to the others here, because if we fail… But still…_ "

My smile vanishes. She's right. If I fail to find and take the cure, then everyone in Mother's Mansion is going to suffer. But at the same time…

This has been going on for too long. It needs to end.

I hear the door to her room open. I close my eyes, not sure what I'm about to hear next.

" _Hey, Diana. How are you today?_ "

My eyes shoot open. "Oh, God, please no…"

The voice I heard was spoken in English. Diana's newest "client" is a human.

The door closes and Diana immediately speaks again.

" _Perry!_ " Her voice is full of panic. " _Perry, do it! Get your team, please!_ _ **PLEASE!**_ "

I throw my headphones off of me. I can't listen to this. I can't do it. Agent P isn't in charge anymore.

I collapse onto the floor and lean against the end of the bed. Despite removing the headphones from my head, I can still hear what's happening through them. I squeeze my eyes shut and cover my ears.

 _You're no different from him! You did the same thing he's doing! You're no better than him!_

 _You're no different! You're the same! You're no better!_

 _You're the same!_

I begin to sob as these thoughts bounce around my head.


	15. Our Mission

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Pinky**

To say that I was annoyed when Agent E, an eagle agent whose name I simply cannot remember for the life of me, called and ordered me to come to headquarters would be an understatement. I was honestly a little angry.

I'm on vacation, for crying out loud! A vacation that's been ordered down from the top of the organization.

But then he told me that it had been Perry who'd requested that I come back to the agency. I didn't hesitate once he told me that. I had slipped away from Isabella and Vivian as quickly and quietly as I could. They didn't even notice I had gotten away until I was out of sight.

And now I'm in the air on my hoverjet, the air blowing past my face, my engines running at full power. I don't have my fedora on yet. Less obstruction from the wind. The feeling of the air flowing through my fur fills me with a sense of calm that I don't often get; not with Isabella around, constantly talking about Phineas. It's adorable, sure, but it's stressful, too. I'm convincing it contributes to my constant shaking.

About thirty minutes after I got Agent E's call, I arrive at the O.W.C.A.'s Danville headquarters. I put on my fedora and hop out. I don't come here very often, as it isn't necessary. Being a part of Wanda's division gives me a lot more free time than Perry gets. She isn't as strict with her orders, and she tries to give us breaks pretty often.

But despite not coming here often, I do know my way around. So it doesn't take me long to find my way to the conference room that Agent E ordered me to appear in. On my way, I see Agent S, a chameleon. He's heading the same way I am.

"Hey, Steve, wait!" I call to him. He turns and looks at me. His face brightens slightly.

"Hola, Pinky," he smiles. "¿Qué tal?"

I smile at him. He's been trying to learn the animal equivalent of Spanish, but his American accent is still very thick. "Estoy bien. Agent E call you in, too?"

"Yeah. I have no clue what's going on. Do you?"

I nod solemnly, my smile disappearing. "I have a pretty good idea. I don't know what exactly is going on, but I know it's important."

"Care to fill me in?"

"Agent E will. It's not my right to tell you. Agent E has all the details. I don't."

He nods, seemingly understanding me. We continue to head to the conference room.

And I'm correct, it's not my right. Perry has given me almost no details about what's going on with him and the girl he's been hanging out with. I don't know anything outside of "she's in danger" and that he loves her.

I thought that things had started to work themselves out, since our last conversation had ended pretty well. But if he was having a bunch of agents suddenly come together, then something terrible must've happened. Perry isn't the type of individual who relies on others. So if he wants help, then something is going on, and I'm admittedly terrified to learn what it is.

Steve and I enter the conference room. It's a bland, brown room with a dark, circular table in its center. Agent E is standing at the end of it, across from the door. Two of the four chairs around the table are filled. Steve and I are the last two to arrive. We salute Agent E.

He salutes back and we make our way to the open chairs. He sits away from me, and I sit next to Callie, one of my closest friends. She smiles at me, but I don't return it. She instantly understands. If I'm not smiling, _me_ of all creatures, then whatever we're about to be told is terrible.

I take a look around the table. Aside from Callie, Steve and myself, there's also Peter the panda in the room. That's when I realize something. Each of us are top level field agents. And we're each small animals. We've been picked for a reason.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Agent E starts. "I'm going to get straight to the point. Agent Perry the platypus has a mission for you four. Yes, I am aware that he is on vacation, but he needs you, desperately."

My heart sinks when I hear that. He really is in trouble.

"One hour ago, I received an email from him along with instructions and an audio file. This audio file is an interview that I will play for you in a minute. But right now you need to know that you are being ordered by both me and Agent Perry to go on this mission. I've listened to the interview and it's highly important that you succeed.

"Agent Perry met someone a few days ago, as I'm sure you're all aware." Peter snickers when Agent E says this. "Yes, laugh it up. You won't be in a minute. Her name is Diana. She's involved in something called 'Mother's Mansion.' And _that_ is what the audio file is for. To explain what that is. I've cut it down to the most important bits."

Agent E pulls out his phone and sets it on the table. A few moments later, I hear a voice come from it. It's Perry's.

" _My name is Agent Perry Bartholomew Flynn-Fletcher, O.W.C.A., Primary Danville Division, and I hereby submit this evidence with the consent of Diana the platypus._ "

The words shock me. I've known Perry for my entire life, and I've never heard him use his middle name when submitting something like this. This audio is clearly incredibly important, and I don't even know what's coming next. I lean forward, as do the others.

"' _Ello there, mate_ ," a deep voice with a thick Australian accent comes next. I narrow my eyes. It sounds a little like Perry. If it is, then he's undercover.

" _What the fuck do you want?_ " another voice comes. It's a deep bark. If I remember all of my language identification correctly, it's a bulldog.

" _I heard about this place from a friend of mine_ ," 'Perry's' voice comes again.

"— _what are you looking to know?_ "

" _What it is._ " If this is Perry, then holy shit. I never realized he was this good of an actor. He sounds evil. Genuinely evil. " _He mentioned the place being a lot of 'fun,' if you catch my drift. I wanna get in on it._ "

' _Fun?'_ I think. _Oh my God…_

"— _talk to Mother._ — _She can set you up with an 'appointment.'_ " The bulldog laughs. " _I just got done with mine: got two rounds for the price of one!_ "

I cover my mouth, horrified. If what I think is going on _is_ in fact going on, then…

" _Have fun!_ " the bulldog's voice comes again. " _And considering your species, I recommend signing up for Diana. She's a blast!_ "

I look around and see looks of horror plastered on everyone's faces. I can tell they're thinking the same things I am. I stare down at the phone playing the audio, when a new voice comes from it.

" _Greetings._ " This voice is human, spoken in English. It's shrill, feminine. " _Welcome to Mother's Mansion. How can I help you?_ — _A 'special' appointment? Please fill out this form._ — _Thank you. Rest assured, all of the 'masseuses' are tested and clean. So, who do you have in mind?_ — _Diana the platypus? That'll be one thousand dollars._ — _Thank you. She'll be ready for you by three o'clock. Please wait until then._ "

All of our faces show the shock of what we just heard.

" _G'day, sheila. What should I call you, love?_ " I now really hope that this is Perry that I'm hearing. Because if it's not, then I think I'm going to throw up.

" _Diana_ ," comes a new voice. It's definitely a platypus chatter. I'm struck by how delicate she sounds. But at the same time, I pick up something else in her voice. Defeat. Fear. She sounds crushed. " _You're new. What's your name?_ "

" _Bartholomew_ ," the Australian voice comes. My ears perk up. It is Perry! Thank God! That's why he used his full name when submitting this! So that we'd know it was him all along! " _But you can call me Barry._ "

" _And what do you want to do, Barry?_ "

" _Princess…_ " This part of the audio is distorted. I can tell that it's been edited, likely to raise the volume. But forget that. I thought her name is Diana. I then realize that it's probably her nickname. " _Is this room soundproof? … Are there security cameras in here?_ "

" _You can't be here! You could ruin everything!_ " Diana sounds terrified. Ruin what?

"— _Princess, what did he do to you?_ " Perry's voice isn't accented anymore. He sounds like himself.

I hear a sob. " _God, Perry, it was horrible._ "

"— _Princess, what did he do?_ "

" _His deal was that he wouldn't tell Mother what happened at the concert if I— if I—_ " she starts sobbing again, unable to finish her sentence. I see Callie cover her mouth. I can understand why.

Diana continues. " _This is Mother's Mansion. Mother took us from our families when we were young. She either just took us from our parents or killed them. We're kept here for her 'business.'_

" _Axel is a 'client.'_ — _they pay for 'services.' Perry… for two years she's been— she's been forcing us to mate with clients for money._ "

There it is. The confirmation I didn't want to hear.

I slam my fist on the table. "Son of a bitch! Perry said she was involved in something dangerous, but I didn't imagine it was this bad!" I slam my fist again. "¡Joder!"

I get understanding glances from everyone in the room. They all look equally disgusted by what we just heard.

" _How many of you are there?_ " Perry's voice asks.

" _Nineteen._ "

"Holy shit…" Steve mutters, slumping back in his chair.

" _Are you all animals?_ "

" _Yes, all of the 'masseuses' are animals. But… not all of the clients are._ — _Some of them are humans…_ "

At that, Steve and Peter erupt in anger and Agent E pauses the audio. I don't move. I'm so shocked and horrified by that statement that I can't. Callie and I both fall back in our seats. I close my eyes and keep them closed.

 _Fucking hell, Perry, what did you stumble onto?_

"Agents, control yourselves!" Agent E yells. The room is instantly engulfed by silence. "Thank you."

" _Princess, what is it that Mother will take if you don't cooperate?_ "

"— _it's a cure._ — _for me. And the others._ — _When Mother catches one of us, she poisons us. —it permanently stops our ovulation cycles. I have to stay if I ever want to have children…_ "

The room is engulfed by shocked silence as the audio cuts out. I open my eyes and stare at the phone, my mouth gaping. Did I hear that correctly? Oh my God…

I close my eyes again and take a deep breath.

This is horrible. If she'd just been spayed to prevent her from having children, then they'd have to keep her there by force, and she'd try to escape. But by putting her on this, this… birth control, in a sense, she was given the hope that she would have kids one day if she 'works' for them. She's putting herself through this for her possible future kids.

It makes me sick.

And there are eighteen others going through the exact same thing.

Agent E picks up his phone and puts it away. "That is everything important in the recording. Agent Perry also collected physical evidence that will likely link itself to the bulldog heard early in the recording. As I'm sure you know, our mission is to destroy this 'business' called Mother's Mansion and arrest this 'Mother' and any associates of hers.

"But Agent Perry specifically stressed that this needs, absolutely _needs_ to be a stealth mission. If Mother, the woman in charge of this organization, even suspects that something is wrong, or that one of them has ratted her out, she'll destroy the cure that Miss Diana spoke of.

"Your priority is to recover that cure at all costs. It is vital that no one is caught. If you don't get that cure, this mission will be considered a failure. Agent Perry has given me the address of Mother's Mansion and has mentioned its details. It's two stories tall and has a basement as well. It's more than ten thousand square feet."

"Excuse me, sir," Peter says. "But how are we going to search something that massive? And how do we even know that this 'cure' even exists?"

"We don't. Agent Perry has already expressed his doubts of its existence. He believes the animals were fixed, but that isn't the point. _If_ this cure exists, then we need to recover it for the nineteen animals that are being held by Mother. _That's_ why you're going in. You four are our best. You all, including Agent Perry, are our top five field agents for stealth.

"You ship out in one hour. You can get your rest on the plane. Get your things together. Dismissed."

Agent E walks around the table and out the door, leaving all of us still sitting in our chairs in dumbfounded silence.

I stare at the spot where the phone had been.

When Perry had said that she was in trouble, I had thought that maybe she had been injured. I had never imagined that she was, in reality, a sex slave.

I feel the sudden need to give Perry a hug. He needs one, considering what he's going through. If he really does love her, then his reaction to what's going on is probably ten times worse than mine.

"Oh my God…" Callie says, louder than she'd probably wanted to.

Peter hides his face in his paws. "Jesus Christ, Perry, what did you find?"

A thought crosses me, and I'm too slow to stop myself from letting it slip out. "He loves her. That's why he's exposing himself like this. He needs us."

Everyone looks at me. A look of jealousy momentarily crosses Callie's face, but it quickly vanishes. I'm proud of her, not letting her crush on Perry cloud her judgment. And Peter looks… I don't know. He's never treated Perry very well, and now Perry's reaching out, begging for his help. I can't imagine what's going through Peter's head.

"You heard Agent E," Steve exclaims. "Come on, y'all. We need to get ready! The jet leaves soon, we need to be on it!"

Steve instantly stands and rushes out of the room. Down to business, as always. And I agree with him. I jump out of my chair. Callie and Peter follow suit.

Time flies and I find myself on our fastest jet with the others. Our silence is deafening. I'm the most nervous I think I've ever been in my life, and my shaking is nigh uncontrollable.

Nineteen lives are on the line. Their freedom is on the line. That's our job, our mission: to free them by finding that cure. Once we have it, we've won: we can go home knowing that we've done good.

As we begin to take off, I look at my watch. It's a little after nine p.m. EST. We'll be there in just under an hour, arriving at six p.m. PST, and in action less than half an hour after that.

 _Don't worry, amigo. We're on our way._


	16. Mother Dearest

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

 **Diana**

Oh, God. Oh, God…

Why did it have to be a human? Please, tell me why?!

I'm crying in my bed, praying that I'm dreaming. I know that I'm not, but for the love of everything holy in this world, I wish I was. Because that would mean that I would wake up in a few minutes, wrapped in Perry's arms, knowing that none of it is real.

I'm not sure if I can go back to Perry. He knows what just happened in here. He probably heard absolutely everything.

I force myself to stand up. No, I can't think like that. I _need_ to go to him. Like he said, he needs to collect more samples of what that human left behind…

 _God, I hate referring to what that human did like that._

Then again, actually thinking about it makes it worse. I think I prefer Perry's terms. I'm just glad I'd managed to focus enough to place the tracker on him like I was asked to.

I make my bed and pick things up off of the floor. Everything in here has a place. Everything has a purpose. I chose everything that I keep in here because it helps me cope. My products help me feel better about my body, because after all of the crap I've gone through in my life, I need to feel better about it.

The Love Händel poster helps remind me that there is happiness out there. There are good people out there, wild people, sure, but good people who want to make people smile. They aren't the only band I follow, they aren't even my favorite. But I couldn't get a poster from my favorite band.

I go over to my desk and gaze down at my Bible. I'd seen Perry looking at it. He probably thinks I'm crazy, keeping this. I know why: Christians believe that they're above us animals, that we don't have souls the same way they do. But they just don't know about us intelligent animals. I'm sure they would think differently if they did.

And it helps me through the day, everyday, knowing that God loves me, despite what I'm doing. He's looking out for me, and He's sent Perry to help me. Perry might not see it the same way I do, but that doesn't matter.

I open the old book and turn to one of my favorite verses.

 _The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged._

I'm not alone. God's with me. And I have Perry.

Oh, I have Perry. He's always listening to me. Always caring about me. Now that I know him, I can't imagine life without him. When we were hanging out, getting to know each other… it's the happiest I've been in years. It's like he's a part of me. I want a family with him. I can only pray that he wants the same with me.

I close the book and step away. I need to get to Perry. He'll be able to make me feel better. He always does.

I walk over to the door and open it. I almost scream in fright.

Mother is standing in front of me.

"And just where are you going, Diana?" her disgusting voice is dripping with hate. "Off to wherever you've been for the past four days?"

I back away from the smartly dressed woman as she lumbers into my room, scanning it as if looking for something. Her presence is terrifying. This is the woman who for two years has been forcing me to… I don't even want to think it anymore.

"You know," Mother says, no longer scanning the room. She's glaring right at me. "I really don't like it when my property isn't where it's supposed to be. You have a place you're supposed to be, and when you're not there…"

Mother snaps her hand around, slapping me across the face with enough force to send me flying a few feet. I can feel the microphone Perry gave me start to come loose as I hit the floor.

" _Where have you been?!_ " Mother screams at me." _I had to give him a_ _ **discount**_ _because_ _ **you! Weren't! HERE!**_ "

I shrink away from her and crawl under my bed. I quickly adjust the microphone so it's buried deeper in my fur.

"Perry… help me… please…" I choke out. Every word hurt to say.

I feel something grab my tail, and I'm yanked out from under the bed. I'm thrown across the room, slamming into my desk and breaking it to pieces.

I try to stand up and run, but I collapse from a pain in my leg. I look down at it. The bone is poking through the fur. I sob from the pain. I look up to see my Bible laying in front of me, its pages open, facedown on the floor.

Mother ambles over to me and crouches. "You stupid fucking animal…" she hisses at me. "You cost me money. You _know_ how much I dislike it when you goddamn critters do that." Her gaze falls to my Bible. Her face twists in disgust as she picks it up and tosses it away.

I whimper and squeeze my eyes shut so I don't have to look her in the eye.

"I'm getting sick of your defiance," Mother whispers, running her fingers through the fur on my head. Her piercing touch sends shivers down my spine, making my blood run cold. "Maybe you don't want that cure, after all…. No, no I don't think you do. Besides, we don't want too many of you goddamn animals running around, now do we?"

I sob even harder.

Mother picks me up by the tail again. The sudden movement makes the throbbing in my leg almost unbearable. I cry out as she begins to carry me out of my room. We pass a few of the others. They stare at me in shock and pity.

"Help me…" I cry to them. They don't move. I know they wouldn't dare. The moment they try, it's over for all of them.

Mother carries me to a section of the mansion I've never been to. I have a feeling I know where I've been taken. But I don't get the chance to look, because I feel a needle slip into me and my world falls into darkness.


	17. Panic

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I hear the human leave the room. I'd stopped crying a while ago. It doesn't help Diana, it's just selfish of me to cry over something that isn't happening to me. Then again, maybe it isn't: she's my mate, for crying out loud, it's hurting me too!

I go over to my headphones and put them back on. I shakily sit down at the desk. I can hear Diana sobbing. I squeeze my eyes shut. It hurts me to hear her like this, and I'm sitting here, unable to hold and comfort her. That's all I want to do.

I've been waiting for almost an hour for what had been happening to finish. And now that it's finally over, I feel incredibly sick.

I unplug my headphones and switch the audio to the laptop's speakers. I open my locked drawer and pull out the kits I used yesterday. I set them on the bed and take a deep breath.

I can hear Diana cleaning up her room. I know that you're not technically supposed to do that in a sexual assault case, but Mother will get angry with her if she doesn't do it. I hear the door to her room open.

And then I hear Mother's voice.

I turn to the laptop and rush over to it. _Oh, God, please no!_

I can hear Mother talking to Diana. A loud noise comes from the laptop, and I'm positive that Mother just hit Diana. I feel my heartbeat racing.

Mother begins yelling, and I hear Diana whimpering. The sound of clambering about can be heard.

" _Perry… help me… please…_ "

Tears fill my eyes as she yelps and I hear a loud crash. I can hear Diana crying, then Mother begins speaking again. Mother is whispering at her. I can't make out what she's saying.

 _She's threatening my Princess!_

I hear Diana cry out once and then I hear walking. I quickly pull up the feed from the cameras I put in the mansion. Mother is carrying Diana by the tail. She's covered in blood…

I fall backwards, my mind not processing what's happening.

 _Diana's in trouble! You have to go save her!_

 _You can't! The cure will be destroyed if you go there!_

 _You can't just leave her there! She could be killed!_

 _You can't go!_

 _You have to!_

 _You can't!_

 _You will!_

 _You won't!_

" _Help me…"_ Diana's crying voice calls to me.

I hold my head. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I need help. I need someone to tell me what to do. I'm panicking, I can't think straight.

I pull out my phone and make a call. It rings for about fifteen seconds before I hear a click.

" _Perry?_ "

"Pinky! She's got her! She's got Princess! I— I don't— I don't know what to do! I don't—"

" _Perry, calm down! We're on the ground, we'll be at the mansion soon._ "

"Pinky, you don't understand! Mother hurt her! She— she was covered in blood! Oh, God— Pinky, what if Mother knows?! What if—"

" _Perry, calm down! We're going to be going in soon, we've got this. Just stay put, we'll save her._ "

"I— I— Pinky, I can't lose her…"

" _You won't, Perry. Calm down. Breath. In… and out. In… and out. Good, keep doing that. That tempo. We'll save her, Perry. I promise._ "

I squeeze my eyes shut. "Please, hurry…"

" _Hasta luego, amigo. Keep it together._ "

The phone clicks and I'm left alone.

 _Keep it together…_

I can do that.

I take a deep breath. Then another. And another.

Pinky's right. I need to calm down. I need to think.

I feel a tugging on my heart. I need to be with Diana. I need to protect her. I can't stand it anymore. Screw this. I'm not being delicate anymore. Mother won't be able to destroy the cure if there is no Mother.

I open up my locked drawer and pull out the tracking receiver, my grappling gun, and a stun gun. I take off my clothing and throw them to the side. I put my equipment into my fur pockets. I reach into the drawer and pull out my fedora. I put my medical and forensics kits in it.

With a single smooth movement, I rest my signature hat on my head, perfectly straight.

I rush out of the room and get into the elevator. Once inside, I enter a specific combination of floor numbers. I hear a ping of approval from the interface, and the elevator begins its descent. After a minute, it slows to a stop and opens up.

I step out into the hotel's O.W.C.A. bunker. I begin to look around and find what I want. I make my way over to it.

I climb onto the motorcycle, lift the kickstand and rev the engine. I feel the power in my hands, letting it fuel me. I find the exit and race towards it. Moments later, I'm basking in the dimming sunlight.

 _Don't worry, Princess, I'm coming._

3


	18. Breaking & Entering

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Pinky**

Perry sounded panicked. I don't know how he knows what happened. Since he hadn't stopped it, he clearly hadn't been present. It doesn't really matter how he knows. He's our best agent, it only makes sense that he would know if something had happened.

So when he says that Mother probably knows about what's about to happen, I take him seriously.

We're approaching the mansion, I can see it from a distance. We start to aim our grappling hooks at the mansion when I hear something coming. I throw my paw in the air.

"Wait!"

They stop and turn to me.

"What's wrong, Pinky?" Callie asks.

"Something's coming…" I mutter, looking around. And then I see it. My eyes widen. "Maldito idiota…"

It's Perry, quickly approaching the mansion on a motorcycle. The others spot him as well. He sees us and makes his way over to us. He parks next to us and cuts his engine.

"Good, you're here," Perry hops off of the bike. "We don't have long."

" _¡_ _Idiota!_ ¿Qué demonios estás haciendo?" I exclaim. "¡Estás demasiado emocionalmente comprometido para estar aquí!"

"¿Qué demonios esperabas que hiciera, Pinky? _Huh?_ _ **Huh?**_ " He gives me a look that tells me that if I answer him right now, he'll knock my head off (and he's strong enough to do it). I've never seen him like this. He points at the mansion." _I'm not going to let Mother hurt her and get away with it!_ "

I'm left in stunned silence as Perry's anger quickly gives way. He's suddenly trembling.

"And if— if— if something happens to her…" His eyes slowly fill with tears.

I throw my arms around him. "Está bien, Perry… We're not gonna let that happen. Diana's gonna be fine." I back away from him. "Go back to the hotel, we'll handle this."

He shakes his head. "Ni hablar. We— we need all five of us." His voice is cracking as he's talking.

"We've got this, Perry," Steve says. "We know how to do our job."

"I don't doubt any of you," Perry says, shaking his head again. "That's why I specifically requested each of you. This isn't up for debate."

"Perry…" Callie says quietly. He looks at her, and in that moment I see pure sadness in both of their eyes. "I— I know what you're feeling. But… but you have to sit this out. You have to."

"Not happening. Who of us here have been inside that place? That's right, _only me_. We're wasting time. Let's go."

"No, Perry!" Callie almost screams. "You could get hurt the way you are right now!"

"I don't give a damn what happens to me! I'm not leaving her in there!"

I hiss at Peter, "Interject, will you?"

He nods at me. "Perry." Perry turns to him and, if looks could kill, Peter would drop dead. But the panda doesn't flinch. "You're going with us."

"What?!" Callie, Steve and I exclaim. Perry gives Peter a grateful smile.

Peter gives us a hard look. "Perry is our best agent, hands down. He's been in there before; he knows what Mother looks like. He has the most experience of any of us. I'll feel more confident that we'll succeed if he's in there with us. Now stop arguing over this like a bunch of children."

"Thank you, Peter," Perry says quietly. He turns to the rest of us.

Several seconds pass before I sigh. "Mierda…" I mutter under my breath. "Fine, let's go. We need to find that cure. Remember, all of the female animals are victims; they are not to be attacked. We can assume that any humans and male animals are either associates of Mother's or clients. Avoid them if at all possible, but if you're spotted, take them down as quickly and quietly as you can."

Perry nods and pulls out a grappling hook. He aims and fires. He's pulled by the steel cable up to the top of the mansion. We follow suit, one by one. I go last.

Peter rips a grate off of a vent and sets his grappling hook to the edge of it. We begin to slip down it.

We've entered Mother's Mansion.


	19. Murderous Intent

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I have no intention of searching for the cure. Right now, my only goal is finding Diana. If I find her, I'll find Mother, and the threat against Diana will be gone.

I have to find her. No matter what. She looked terrible in the camera feed. If it hadn't been for the fact that I heard her crying while being carried, I would have assumed she was dead. She looked that bad.

As soon as I split up from the others, I pull the receiver and stun gun out of my fur pocket. I turn on the receiver.

"I knew it," a voice comes from behind me.

I yelp and turn around.

"Peter!" I hiss. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Following you. It was pretty obvious that you were hiding something." My eyes widen as I realize that he's staring at my receiver. "You have a tracker on her?"

"A microphone. The microphone has a tracker in it. Peter, if you tell the others about this I'll—"

"I'm gonna help you."

I furrow my brow at him. "What?"

"I'm going to help you," he repeats, looking annoyed. "Perry, I know I've been a jerk to you for a long time—"

I cough. A 'long time' doesn't quite cover it.

"—a _long_ time," he continues, "but that doesn't change that you chose me to help you find someone you love. Thank you for trusting me."

"You're one of the best," I say with a shrug. "I needed the best."

"Yeah, well, still… Thank you."

I nod, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. "Come on, let's hurry."

I quickly find where the signal is coming from and set off towards it at a brisk pace, careful that my footfalls are silent.

"What can we expect?" Peter whispers to me.

"Mother took Princess," I answer just as quietly. "If we find Princess, we'll find Mother."

"I thought we're trying to _avoid_ Mother?"

I don't answer him. He grabs my shoulder and drags me to a halt. If it weren't for the fact that we're on a mission, I would have laid him out for touching me.

" _Perry,_ what are you about to do?"

I involuntarily shift the stun gun in my hand. Peter notices and narrows his eyes at me. Peter eyes me for a few seconds longer before shaking his head.

"Come on," he finally says. "We need to find Diana."

I nod and we take off again.

The second floor of the mansion appears to be for residence, likely for Mother and whoever she wants to keep up here. I don't bother with anything up here. The signal isn't coming from up here.

We find a staircase and silently make our way down it. Thus far, I'm shocked that we haven't run into anyone. It's only now occurring to me that maybe there aren't any other humans in the mansion. After all, what Mother's doing is so horrible that it's entirely possible that she has no partners.

I hadn't seen anyone outside of Mother and a few of the female animals in the mansion when I was here yesterday. If that's the case, then…

 _They must be absolutely terrified of Mother if they aren't willing to gang up on her._

And considering the state that I'd seen Diana in, I can understand why.

Thinking about Diana makes my rage boil. I had been panicking earlier because I'd been too far away to save her. But now that we're in the same building, my panic is completely gone. The only things in my heart is my need to keep her safe and my fury.

I'm grateful that Peter didn't argue with me. At the same time, though, I saw hesitation in his eyes. If he tries to stop me, I'm going to take him down, too. I won't let anyone keep me from saving Diana.

We continue to follow the signal as we reach the first floor. I look at my receiver again. It's further below us. Diana's in the basement.

"We need to find more stairs and get into the basement," I say absentmindedly.

"Perry…" I hear Peter say. I ignore him and continue to follow the signal. "Perry!"

I turn to him. "What?" He points and I turn to look to where.

There's a golden retriever staring at us, her eyes wide in fright. Dammit, we've already been caught. Then again…

I rush up to her at such a speed that she's unable to react. "Where's Mother?"

"I— I— Who are you?"

Good God, she sounds terrified. I shudder as I remember that she's gone through the same thing that Diana has. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend of Diana's."

Her eyes widen when I say this. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry… I— I don't know where she took her… I—"

"I need to get into the basement," I interrupt her. I understand that she's in shock, but I don't have time for it. Diana's in danger. "Where's the stairs?"

Her eyes widen even further. "Wh—what are you going to do?"

"We're here to stop Mother from hurting anyone else. We're getting the cure for you all. Now where's the stairs? Please, Diana's in danger!"

"Mother's going to fix her…" the retriever chokes. "We couldn't stop her, I'm sorry… We wanted to stop her…"

I stare in horror at the yellow dog. Mother's going to spay Diana. My rage suddenly becomes uncontrollable. The one thing, _the_ _only thing_ , that has kept Diana in this hell is the hope that she'd have kids, a family, one day. Mother's about to permanently strip that away from her. I stare into the dog's eyes.

" _Where's the stairs?_ " I ask harshly.

"They're— they're that way…" she shakily points down the hall and I immediately take off running.

 _Please, don't be too late! Please, please, don't be too late! Please!_

If Mother's fixed Diana, it would crush her. She may never recover from that shock. Her want to raise a family means more to her than anything, and if it's taken from her…

It could kill her. It could actually kill her.

I feel dread filling me as that thought repeats itself in my head.

Peter and I skid to a stop at a door. We look at each other before I grab its handle, twist, and thrust it open. Before us is a stairway, leading down. I don't hesitate and rush down them as fast as is safely possible.

We reach the bottom and I raise my stun gun. I take another look at my receiver. Diana's only about twenty meters away. To my shock, this basement is much smaller than I'd expected it to be.

Peter and I exchange a glance.

"How close are we?" he asks me.

I take a look around. This basement isn't much to write home about. The floor is concrete and the walls are sterile white. There's only the hallway we're in, the stairs, and three doors. I check the receiver to confirm. I indicate the door directly across from us.

"She's in there. Mother probably is to…" My voice fades out as the fire in my chest rises. If Mother's done what that golden retriever thinks she's done…!

As we approach the door, Peter whispers. "Perry, don't do anything stupid."

I don't answer him. I slowly twist the knob, silently push the door open, and peer inside.

There's Mother. I can see the grey woman, her back turned to me. I'm perplexed by what she's wearing: an apron. Then I remember. As I pay more attention, I can see Diana on the table, my view of her blocked by Mother. There's blood. Then I see that the human woman is holding a scalpel.

I immediately kick the door open, breaking it off of its hinges. Mother jerks around, her eyes wide. She rears her hand back, ready to throw the scalpel at me. I raise my stun gun and fire.

It's set to its lowest setting, so all it does is daze Mother, but it's enough: she drops the scalpel to the floor and grips the table to keep from collapsing. I run up to her, jump, and kick her across the face as hard as I can. Her head snaps around at the violent act and I hear a satisfying crack as bone breaks. She collapses to the floor and stares at me.

Peter hasn't even had the chance to enter the room by the time all of this happens.

I raise my stun gun to her head and change it to its highest setting. At this setting and distance, it will turn her brain into nothing but a bag of blood.

"Perry!" Peter cries out. " _Stop!_ "

I twitch. "She deserves it!" I snarl. "She hurt Diana and every other animal here!"

" _Perry!_ " Peter exclaims, slowly walking forwards. " _We aren't killers!_ "

I don't answer him. I rest my finger on the trigger and look Mother in the eyes. She looks confused and shocked.

Scared.

Good. She should be.

"I always have hated you fucking animals…" she slurs through her broken jaw and the effects of the stun.

It's now that I get it. I get why she doesn't have a problem doing all of this. She doesn't see Diana as anything but an animal. That's all she is to this sick human. Not a living creature with a soul; just an animal that, in her mind, doesn't matter.

She doesn't value her life. She doesn't value her feelings. She doesn't look at us as anything but insignificant creatures for her to exploit. My rage boils over.

I pull the trigger.


	20. Relief

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I wish I could say that I had scrambled Mother's brains.

But I can't.

Because something tackled my arm, sending my energy blast harmlessly into the wall.

I look around to see what hit me, but I see nothing. Peter has rushed in and has Mother lying flat on her stomach, slapping handcuffs on her.

I look around again. And see Steve standing next to me.

"It's a good thing I followed you, too, eh, step-brother?"

I stare at him incredulously. He had camouflaged himself and followed me and Peter. And Peter probably knew! I look at Mother again. Peter has her hands cuffed behind her back and leaning against the wall. _How dare they!_

I shake my head. "We have to find the cure." Then I remember why I came. My head snaps up towards the table. "Princess!"

I jump up onto the table and look at her in horror. It was worse than I imagined it would be. Her lower half is caked in blood. I can see a bone sticking out of her leg. And there's a small incision in her lower abdomen…

I feel my heart rate increase in fear.

 _Oh, please, God, no! Princess believes in You, so please tell me You protected her!_

I begin to hurriedly search through the room. I look down at the floor. The scalpel has blood on it. Diana's blood. I look around the room for the other tools. And I find them.

I draw in my breath and relief floods through me. The _only_ tool in the room that has blood on it is the scalpel.

Mother had only just started.

I look down at Diana, feeling tears flow down my face. She's safe… my Princess is safe.

She's asleep right now, under anesthesia, but that will wear off. What's important, the only thing that's important, is that she'll wake up and find me next to her and she'll know that I protected her. That I will always protect her. That I will never let anyone hurt her. That I will never leave her.

Peter harshly pushes Mother out of the room. Steve is searching the room, probably looking for the cure. I look over at the tools. I rush over to them and pick up the forceps and a needle. I go back to Diana and begin to carefully stitch the incision closed. I'm now incredibly grateful that our training involved field medicine.

I'm finished a few minutes later. I lay the forceps down and begin to gently stroke Diana's face.

I have her again. I have her and she's free. She's free.

I look over at the chameleon agent. "Hey, Steve…"

He turns to me. "Yes, Perry?"

I hesitate before taking a deep, shaky breath. "Th—thank you…"

He smiles warmly at me. "You're welcome. I'm just really glad I was here."

"So am I…"

I turn back to Diana and continue stroking her resting face. Despite how badly I want to talk to her right now, I'm glad she's asleep. The pain from her leg is surely excruciating. I would likely be able to handle it, but she's probably never experienced something like it before.

I wish I had gone with her when she left a few hours ago. Then none of this would have happened.

Remembering that, I pull my kits out of my fedora and put on some gloves. Steve eyes me suspiciously.

"Um, what are you doing?" Steve asks, seeing me with them.

"Collecting evidence," I state flatly. "Before Mother attacked her, Princess was ordered back… for a client." The chameleon's face contorts in shock. This tells me that he _has_ heard my recording. "It was a human…"

At that, Steve covers his mouth. He stares at me for a few seconds before looking at Diana. "Oh my God…"

For the next few minutes, I'm working, collecting evidence off of Diana; meanwhile, Steve continues to search the drawers and cupboards in the room. It looks like a standard veterinarian's surgery room. That, combined with the fact that Mother had acted like she knew what she was doing, tells me that she's likely a vet. It makes me squeamish thinking about it.

I'm always nervous when Phineas and Ferb take me to the veterinarian. Now it's going to be even worse.

I finish and put my kits back in my fedora. I sit down next to her and gently move her onto my lap. I begin rubbing my hand back and forth across her side, almost hoping that my touch would wake her up.

I hear a cheer from Steve, startling me from my trance.

"I _found_ it!" Steve exclaims, turning to me. He raises a small bottle in front of himself. Well, small for me. It's about half his size. I can't read what it says from as far away as I am, but I look behind him and see a bunch more of the exact same vials.

My heart starts racing and a smile spreads across my face. "Call it in!"

His grin doesn't vanish as he sets the vial down and rushes out of the room, yelling Pinky's name.

I lean down and gently kiss Diana's forehead. "You free, Princess. You're free…"


	21. Free

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Princess**

My mind is groggy. Where am I? What happened? I don't…

Oh, no. I remember what Mother was about to do… she's done it before. That means that I've been…

I inhale deeply as I regain consciousness. The first thing I notice is that I'm not in my room. I'm not in the streets, either. I don't know where I am.

The second thing I notice is that Perry is wrapped around me. He's fast asleep, his face barely an inch from mine.

"Perry…?"

His eyes immediately open. He looks surprised, but that quickly turns into jubilance. "You're awake! Oh, Princess, you're awake!" He hugs me tightly for a few seconds before pulling slightly away, his eyes filling with tears.

"P-Perry," I say, my vision becomes wet with tears as I realize what Mother's done to me. Terror is quickly filling me. "She— she—"

"Shhh… Mother can't hurt you anymore. We arrested her. You're safe. You're safe. You're on our plane. You're safe."

"She fixed me…! Oh God, she—"

"No, she didn't." His voice is stern. "She didn't."

My tears stop for a second. "Wh-what?"

"We found you before she could." He places his paw on my belly and I follow his eyes down to it. His paw is tracing something on it. It hurts where he's touching me. "She had just started, but she didn't get further than this incision. I stitched you up. You're still gonna have to see one of our doctors for your leg."

Relief is flooding through me when he says that Mother didn't spay me. Perry saved me from it. But still, something's wrong…

"Perry!" My voice fills with alarm as I realize what it is. "I can't feel my leg!"

"Hey, hey, hey, relax. Relax. I injected a numbing agent into it so you wouldn't feel the pain when you woke up. Looks like it worked." He gives me a reassuring smile.

I gaze into his eyes. He's taken care of me. Everything I could need, he's on it. He's looking out for me. He really was sent to save me. He lets out a small sigh.

"Wow…" he breathes. "You look beautiful."

I feel my face heat up. This is the first time he's ever said that. I had already assumed he thought that, but hearing it makes it real.

He closes the inch between us and kisses me. _Actually_ kisses me, not like his attempts from before. I moan in surprise, feeling my heart melt. He's holding me close, letting me know that I can finally relax. I can finally rest. I'm finally safe.

I was trained by Mother to do many acts that aren't natural for animals. It was to "give clients an experience they can't get elsewhere." Those are her words (they make me sick). That being said, it's surprising that Perry's learned how to kiss so quickly.

He gently pulls away, leaving me breathing heavily. He looks into my eyes and smiles.

"And I've got more good news. We have the cure."

I stare at him. Wait… what?

"You mean that…"

He smiles. "Yeah."

I pull him to me and kiss him with all of the love in my heart. I feel both of his paws on my back as he pull me close to him. I don't want to ever let us come out of this moment.

I'm out of the tunnel. The last two years of my life have led to this moment: the moment where someone I love tells me that I can finally move on. That I can finally have what I want most. A family.

I come out of it to breathe and gaze into his eyes. He's slowly blinking at me, nothing but passion and love in his eyes.

"Perry… are you… is having kids something you're willing to do?"

His face softens and he nuzzles my bill. He answers me gently. "Only if you're willing to."

 _That's a yes!_ I pull him into another kiss and don't let up on him. I wrap my arms around his back and I feel his arms tighten around my waist. He wants a family with me. He wants to be with me.

He does want me permanently…

"Uh…"

We quickly pull apart and look to where the voice had come from. A small, tan colored dog in a fedora is standing a few feet away, awkwardly staring at us. I feel myself flushing deeper than I had thought was physically possible, especially through fur.

Perry gets a mischievous grin on his face. "Hey, Pinks! What's the matter?"

"I, uh— I, um," the small dog stammers, his face also a bright shade of red. "I—I came to check up on you, but, uh, I—I think that I'll, um, just go back up front."

He scurries off as quickly as his tiny legs can carry him, leaving Perry and me alone again. Perry immediately starts laughing. I give him a weird look.

"Sorry," he apologizes after gathering himself. "That was Pinky, the chihuahua I was telling you about."

"He, um, shakes more than I expected."

"Yeah, he's a character." Perry looks me in the eye again. "Now, where were we?"

"I think you—," I start, but he interrupts me with another kiss. In this, I feel all of his love. He's holding me close, letting me know that he won't let go.

He gently pulls away. "I love you, Princess." A feeling of pure content washes over me when he says those words.

"I love you, Perry."

He kisses me again, wrapping his whole self around me. I get lost in his passion.

I'm finally free.


	22. New Outlook

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

I wait in anxious anticipation for her to finally come out.

She's been in surgery for what feels like days.

It's only been three minutes.

I shouldn't be so concerned, but I am. Her leg hadn't been as bad as I'd thought it would be. At first, I was terrified that they were going to have to amputate it. Turns out that if it had been allowed to sit around for much longer, that might've been the case.

No, Diana isn't going to lose her leg. But she does need to have the bone replaced.

I can't help but feel guilty. I had allowed her to go back to Mother's Mansion knowing full well that things could've gone as badly as they did. I had _known_ that she was going to go through something horrible, but I sent her anyways. I feel horrible for that.

But seeing her smile when I told her that we got the cure… that was one of the best moments of my life. I saw nothing but pure joy in her eyes. It was the most beautiful she's ever been, and I am so glad that she's finally free.

The samples that I left in Los Angeles have been turned over to the chain of evidence by now. As has the sample I collected earlier today… well, yesterday.

I'm in Danville now, at the O.W.C.A.'s hospital. Having passed through multiple time zones, all of the events of 'today' are now yesterday. Time zones are weird.

I look down at my watch. Surely they're almost done by now.

They're not. She's been in surgery for only five minutes.

I groan. Is time seriously dragging itself out on purpose?

"You're gonna wear yourself out if you keep doing that."

I look up to see Pinky looking at me, holding two cups of coffee. How cliché. I give him a weak smile.

"Hola, Pinky…"

"Hey there." He hops up into the chair next to me and sits down. He hands me a cup and I gratefully accept it. It's only half full, but that's more than fine. I take a cautious sip of the hot, dark liquid. It's wonderful flavour spreads through me, calming my nerves.

"Gracias."

He laughs at me. "De nada. You know, I _can_ speak our English equivalent, Perry."

I give him a sideways grin. "Lo sé, pero tú me conoce."

"Yes, yes I do." He begins fiddling with his cup. "So, um, sorry about… walking in on you two on the jet."

I shake my head. "We were just kissing. She was too injured for anything more than that."

"Yeah, about that… _how_ were you kissing? You have bills, not lips!"

I laugh. "I didn't know how she did it at first either. I just sort of caught on after a while."

"You've only known her for like three days!" I shrug at his exclamation. He gives me a sly smile and leans towards me. "You wouldn't mind showing me how you do it, would you?"

I suck in my breath and raise a cautionary finger at him. He bursts out laughing.

"Kidding, I'm kidding! I'm straight as a plank!"

"Planks develop warps," I respond dryly, not lowering my finger.

His smile abruptly vanishes and he gets a look of horror on his face. "Mierda. You're right! And I've been using that phrase for…"

Now it's my turn to laugh at him. No wonder he can't keep a girlfriend. After a while, I finally gain control of myself. I let out a small sigh.

"Thank you. I needed that."

He smiles at me. "You're welcome." His expression falls and he looks at the floor. "So. Steve told me what happened in the basement."

I stare at the floor.

He turns his head and looks at me. "Perry, were you going to kill her?"

I don't answer and refuse him eye contact.

"Perry." His voice gains a force I'm not familiar with coming from him. "Would you have?"

I take a sip of my coffee. I finally respond in a quiet voice. "Yes."

" _Perry_ ," he hisses at me, keeping his voice low. "It's _not_ our job to play judge, jury and executioner!"

I narrow my eyes, but still refuse to look at my best friend. "Maybe, sometimes, it _should_ be."

I can see Pinky's shock in my peripheral vision. I take another sip of coffee.

"You—you don't mean that!" he stammers.

I take a deep breath. "I do. Diana could've died. Her leg could've gotten infected and she could've died. People like Mother, people who are so evil that they treat us animals the way Mother does, don't deserve to live."

"… What would Diana think if she heard you say that?"

I suppress a shudder. "Truthfully, I don't know. But considering everything Mother put her through, I think she'd agree with me."

"Perry… _no one_ deserves to die. No one."

"Oh, really?" I turn and look him directly in the eyes, my anger starting to burn again. "What about the terrorists who murder children? Do they deserve to live? What about the rapists who assault women and men every day? Do _they_ deserve to live? And what about the people who _enable_ the rapists? Do _**they**_ deserve to live?"

Pinky is left staring at me in stunned silence. I turn my eyes to the floor again.

"What good are we doing, Pinky? What good are we really doing? How many people have to suffer and die before we finally say that enough is enough?"

Pinky keeps his eyes on me for an eternity before letting them fall. He takes a deep, shaky breath. "No one deserves to _die_ , Perry. No, not everyone deserves to live, you're right, but no one deserves to die. It's hard. It's really hard. But it's the right thing to do. We have to be better than them."

"We _are_ better than them. I don't see you and me going around r—" I stop myself and shut my eyes. I take a deep breath and rephrase. "You haven't done anything so horrible you couldn't forgive yourself. Just trust me, we're better than them."

Pinky gets a look of concern on his face. "Perry, what happened? What were you about to say?"

I turn away from him. I can't say it. Diana may have forgiven me, but I still haven't found it in me to forgive myself.

"It's been a long four days…" is what I finally decide to tell him. I can tell he's not satisfied with my answer, but I don't care. It's all I'm giving him.

We sit in silence. What else is there to say? This isn't going to go anywhere. Actually, there is something else to say.

"Thank you for coming."

Pinky shakes his head. "Callie and I didn't really end up doing anything."

"You came. That's what matters. Thank you."

He finally regains his smile. "You're welcome. Thank you for reaching out."

I nod and take another sip of coffee. I let out a sigh. "How are the other survivors?"

His smile vanishes and he averts his gaze. "The doctors finished looking over them a little bit ago. That poison was dangerous stuff. It caused severe damage to their ovaries. It'll take months for them to recover. The antidote might not even work for all of them."

I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath. Diana's going to freak when she hears that. I can only hope— no, I can only pray that she's going to be fine.

Pinky looks at his watch and sighs. "I need to go. Isabella and Vivian are probably freaking out right now."

I nod my head, continuing to stare at the floor.

"Hey, Perry."

I meet my best friend's eyes.

"You asked what good we do. We just saved nineteen lives. Think about that."

With that, Pinky walks off, leaving me staring after him in silence.

I finally let a small smile spread across my bill. He's right. We saved nineteen lives.

We did good.


	23. At Long Last

Disclaimer: _Phineas and Ferb_ and all characters associated with _Phineas and Ferb_ are the intellectual property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Disney.

The story, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased) or events is intended or should be inferred. Please review this story to let me know what can be improved or revised. Thank you.

* * *

 **Perry**

Months.

That's how long Princess and I had been trying to conceive a child.

We had known that it would likely take this long. She was told how much damage the poison had done to her a day after her leg surgery.

She had been distraught when told that it was likely that she might never be able to have kids, _despite_ taking the antidote. I took her to a private beach to try and help her recover from that news and the surgery. It worked, and she was finally able to unwind some.

Our time there was well spent. We did nothing but be together. It was there that I got to know the Princess that was able to relax and not have any worries. Those were three of the best weeks of my life.

As we spent time together, I learned more about her.

Her parents were O.W.C.A. agents from a division in California. They'd been ordered to investigate an unknown organization that was related to the disappearance of numerous female animals. A few days into their investigation, they, along with their daughter, went missing. A DNA test confirmed that Princess is the daughter of those two agents.

Princess had been in training when she was younger. That's why she has fur pockets and responded so easily to my orders. During the months since Mother's arrest, Princess has, to my objection, completed her training. However, she thankfully wasn't approved for field work. She told me she didn't really want to do it anyways.

Also, her name isn't Diana. Diana was the name that Mother gave her. Turns out her birth name _actually is_ Princess. I've been calling her by her real name before I even knew it was her name. It made me smile when I learned that. She hadn't even remembered that Princess was her real name. She had thought it was just a nickname.

That's one less thing that she has to carry from her past. Using her real name is another way in which she's trying to move on.

But it was hardly that easy. She along with the other survivors were put into therapy. Some of them were in worse shape than others, with Princess being one of the worst. I think the last few hours of her time in Mother's Mansion seriously contributed to that. You don't go through what she went through without developing trauma.

Mother was thrown in prison. Multiple charges of animal abuse put her there. California's three strikes laws ensured that her nineteen plus charges of it would keep her in jail for life. Turns out there had been no other motivation outside of money. It infuriates me. She had seen Princess and the others as nothing but property. She made them suffer for the most ridiculous of reasons.

I had also been put into therapy, though not for the same reasons that the survivors were, obviously. Princess had insisted that I do so. I know why, it was obvious. She wanted me to finally forgive myself for hurting her. She insists that I didn't hurt her, but a part of me doesn't believe her. You don't get put in that kind of position without feeling violated.

But with Princess's help, I was able to cope. I didn't forgive myself for what I did, but I was able to somewhat move on. It was around that time, a few weeks after my vacation ended, that we started trying to have a kid.

I knew that it wasn't going to work that early; there was still way too much damage. But she was insistent. She wanted one as soon as she possibly could. She and I tried literally almost every day. And I wasn't going to protest, because it was admittedly a lot of fun.

But it eventually became stressful. It'd been seven months since we started trying and Princess was starting to get seriously worried that it was never going to work. Despite frequent visits to the O.W.C.A. doctors and their insistence that she was recovering nicely, she was still frantic over it. It's understandable; the only reason she stayed at Mother's Mansion was because she wants kids, and if she's not able to have them, then her efforts were for naught.

But then it happened.

It actually happened.

The doctors were shocked. They'd been projecting that if she was going to be able to conceive, it wouldn't be possible for another six months. They weren't sure how we'd managed it, but that didn't matter to us.

I will never forget that moment. I can't even describe how wonderful it felt. The knowledge that I was going to be a father and that I've given my mate what she wanted most was… well, like I said, I can't describe it. It was that wonderful.

The pure joy that Princess felt when we learned made me truly happy. She was so grateful to me. I think that's what I loved most about that moment. I gave her what she wanted. She hadn't gone through all of that for nothing. She finally had her reward.

I had tried to get her to move in with me, but she insisted on staying at the O.W.C.A.. She said that, considering Phineas and Ferb's inventions, my home might not be the safest place to raise a kid. I can't completely disagree with her, but I am still a little disappointed. Her not living with me means I have to choose between seeing my mate or my owners more often.

In the end, despite how guilty I felt about it, I chose my owners. I've known them for much longer and being around them is when I'm most content.

But now, about five weeks after we first found out that Princess was pregnant, I get a call. She'd laid the egg nine days ago, meaning that if I'm getting a call from her, it can only mean one thing.

Since Phineas and Ferb are at school, slipping into my lair is easy. I answer my phone and hurry to the closest entrance.

"Princess?" I say into the microphone.

" _Perry, it's hatching!_ "

"I'm already on my way!"

And indeed I am. I've already thrown myself into a shoot, heading to my lair. That's where Princess has been staying since she laid the egg. We wanted it to be possible for me to get there as quickly as possible while also being somewhat secluded.

Moments pass before I plop out of the shoot and into my chair. I quickly look over to the corner where we'd set up her bed. And there she is, along with Pinky and Callie. They look up and wave me over, grins covering their faces.

I quickly rush over. There it is. The egg is trembling slightly, with Princess curled up around it. I lay down on the other side of the egg and smile at her.

"I'm terrified…" she mutters.

"What?" I ask, a little surprised.

"I've been wanting this for as long as I can remember, and now that it's actually happening…"

I nuzzle her bill with my own. She gives me a sheepish smile. "You'll be fine."

Callie lays down next to Princess and gives her a reassuring smile. To my surprise, Callie had actually grown to like Princess over the past few months. I can tell Callie hasn't completely gotten over me, but she understands. I'm grateful that she hasn't taken it out on Princess. If anything, she's been more than helpful. She's a great friend.

"There's a crack!" Pinky suddenly exclaims.

All of our focuses are on the egg now. He's right! There's a small crack forming across the top.

"Come on, fella…" I whisper.

The egg breaks. And out clambers a baby platypus. I suck in my breath at the sight.

"He's beautiful…" Princess breathes. She gently nuzzles the newly hatched animal closer to her. He gives a small squeak at his mother's touch. She slowly moves him closer to her midsection and with seconds he begins nursing.

"Congratulations, you two…" Callie whispers. She has a wide grin on her face as she gazes at the small animal.

"Congrats, amigo," Pinky says, patting me on the shoulder. I smile up at him.

I turn to Princess. "What should we name him?"

She beams down at our son. "Patton. It means 'from the warrior.'"

I grin at her before directing my gaze to our son. I reach out and gently stroke the top of his head. "Patton…"

Princess takes a deep breath. "'I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.'" Our eyes lock. "I love you, Perry. Thank you."

I feel myself blushing. I gave her what she wanted most. She finally has a family she can truly call her own. It makes me happy to know that she's happy.

Still… I can't help but feel like something in my life is missing. There's still a void. But I don't have to focus on that right now. Right now, I just want to focus on my mate and son.

"I love you, too, Princess…"

I wrap my tail over Princess and huddle up closer to her, keeping Patton right in between us. This moment right here… this moment is something else. This moment is like nothing I've ever experienced before.

This moment is where I think I want to be for the rest of my life.


End file.
